IllV  clliU 


iW«a,'»M\\\v<.-..M.  ^ 


_J 


THE 


CITY  AND  COUNTY 


OF 


SAiN  DIEGO. 


ILLUSTRAa^ED, 


AND   CONTAINING 


BICGPxAPPIICAL  SKETCHES 


PROMIXEXT  MKX  AXl)  PIONEERS. 


Sax  Diego.  Cal. 
LEBERTHON   &   TAYLOR. 

iSS8. 


Entered  iccordi^g  to  Act  of  Eoijgress,  ii?  tl?e  Year  1888,  by 
In  the  Office  of  tbe  Librariarj  of  Congress,  at  WasMogtoij. 


"^^=^ 


ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED. 


THE  PACIFIC  PRESS, 

Printers,  Electrotypers,  and  Binders, 

Oakland  avu  San  Francisco. 


RREKACK. 


I  HAVE  been  asked  to  sketch  the  history,  topography,    resources  and  progress  of 

the  city  and  county  of  San  Diego,  up  to  date.     To  do  so  in  full  is  to  write  a  ponderous 

book  whose  size  would  at  once  seal  its  fate.       To  sketch  the  whole  in  brief  and  readable 

form,  giving  due  importance  to  all  parts,   omitting  unimportant  details  fit  only  for  an 

•  advertising  pamphlet,  is  a  greater  task  than  to  write  the  whole  in  full. 

Neither  history  nor  geography  is  of  any  value  if  one-sided.  There  is  little  use  in 
writing  anything  unless  written  in  a  way  that  will  make  the  reader  believe  it.  The  day 
has  long  passed  when  a  one-sided  tale  about  California  can  be  palmed  off  on  an  intelligent 
reader.     As  a  mere  matter  of  policy,  to  say  nothing  of  honesty,  such  writing  is  unwise. 

A  fair  account  of  the  whole  necessarily  requires  the  statement  of  some  cold  facts. 
It  is  difficult  to  see  any  reason  why  these  should  not  now  be  given.  They  are  certainly  a 
part  of  our  history.  Heretofore  they  have  generally  been  concealed.  Surely  the  time 
has  come  when  all  may  afford  to  laugh  at  them.  If  a  sorrow's  crown  of  sorrow  is 
remembering  happier  things,  so  is  the  memory  of  the  dark  and  stormy  waves  a  pleasure 
when  the  bark  is  once  safe  in  port.  There  is  little  credit  in  a  fight  won  against  no 
enemy;  slight  glory  in  a  field  where  there  were  no  odds.  The  trials  of  San  Diego  really 
brighten  the  triumph  of  to-day,  and  form  a  setting  for  the  jiicture  that  it  would  be 
foolish  not  to  use.  T.  S.  VAN  DYKE. 

.San  Diego,  March  i,  iSSS. 


BIOOR^PMICAL. 


The  biographical  sketches  of  the  prominent  and  pioneer  citizens  of  San  Diego  that 
appear  in  this  volume,  have  all  been  prepared  from  data  furnished  by  those  interested. 
If  we  have,  in  some  instances,  enlarged  and  embellished  this  material,  it  has  been  bo- 
cause  we  believed  that  the  suljjects  were  deserving  of  it.  It  wouKl  be  diflficult  in  any  jiart 
of  the  country  to  find  a  group  of  men  more  worthy  of  praise,  to  whom  the  community  where 
they  make  their  home  owes  more,  than  the  older  citizens  of  San  Diego.  For  many  long 
jears  they  waited  patiently  for  the  coming  of  the  day  that  was  to  bring  a  realization  of 
their  hopes;  when  the  world  was  to  acknowledge  what  they  had  long  contended,  that 
here  on  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of  San  Diego  was  the  fitting  place  for  a  great  city — a 
metropolis.  That  day  has  come,  and  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  feel  proud  of 
their  constancy,  their  failh  in  the  future?  T.  T.   LEBERTHON, 

A.  T.VVLOR, 

Editors  and  Publishers. 

San  Diego,  Cal.,  .^Tarch  i,  i8S8. 

547183 

LISRARf 


CONTENTS. 


FACE. 

The  Early  Days 9 

Progress  of  Farming,  etc 13 

Beginning  of  Fruit  and  Vine  Culture 16 

Rise  of  San  Diego  City iS 

The  Long  Sleep 21 

The  Awakening 25 

The  Bay  Region 30 

The  Interior 34 

The  Lower  Coast  Division 39 

The  Northern  Division 44 

The  Mountain  Division 4S 

Water 52 

Production 5b 

The  Climate 66 

Out-of-door  Amusements 72 

Miscellaneous 75 

Morse,  Whaley  &  Dalton    Building 210 

First  National  Bank 211 

The  Consolidated  National  Bank  of  San  Diego   213 

The  Pierce-Morse  Block 214 

Villa  Montezuma 214 

(0 


LIST  OK    BIOORARMIES. 


PAGE. 

Biographical    Sketches 83 

A.  E.i^orton S3 

E.  W.  iMorse   87 

Judge    O.   S.  Witherby 91 

M.  Schiller 93 

Thomas  Whaley 96 

Hon.  James  McCoy 102 

Andrew  Cassidy 104 

Robert  Kelly 106 

Colonel  C.   P.  Noell 109 

J.  S.  Mannasse 112 

Charles  A.  Wetmore 114 

George  B.  Hensley 118 

William  E.  High 1 20 

Aaron    Paiily 122 

D.    Choate 125 

Judge  McNealy 1 29 

Robert  Allison 131 

Philip    Morse 133 

R.  G.  Clark 136 

Daniel  Cleveland 139 

George  W.  Hazzard 142 

William  Jorres 145 

Charles  J.  Fox,  C.  E 147 

A.   Klauber i  ^o 

S.Levi 152 

Bryant  Howard 1 54 

John  S .  Harbison 1 56 

Col.  Chalmers   Scott 1 159 

Charles  Hubbell 162 

George  William  Barnes,  M.  D 1 70 

O.    S.   Hubbell 164 

Joseph  Faivre , 167 

Thomas  L.  Nesmith 172 

Mrs.   Mary  J,   Birdsall , 175 

D.  Cave,  D.   D.  S , 176 

Dr.  W.  A.  Winder , 1 79 

Judge  M.  A.   Luce iSi 

(vii) 


.viii  LIST  OF  BIOGRAPHIES. 

George  A.  Cowles 1 84 

Dr.   r.  C.  Kemondino iS? 

N.  H.  Conklin 190 

R.    A.  Thomas  192 

Judge  John  D.  Works 194 

L.  S.  McClure i97 

Governor  Robert  \V.   Waterman 1 99 

Col.  W.   H.  Holabird   203 

Col.  John  A.  Helphingstine ■ 206 

Willard  N.  Fos 208 


CHAPTER    I. 


THE  EARLY  DAYS. 


HE  BAY  of  San 
Diego  was  dis- 
covered in  1542, 
by  Cabrillo,  and 
named  in  1602 
by  Vizcaino,  who 
a  survey  of  it  at  the 
From  the  survev  of 


made 
tmie. 

\'izcaino  over  a  century  and 
a  half  rolled  over  its  unbro- 
ken face  until  the  ships  of 
Padre  Junipero  Serra  anch- 
ored within  it.  It  was  several 
)  ears  before  the  Indians  were 
lullv  subdued,  but  they  finally 
succumbed  to  the  peaceful  arts  of 
the  missionaries.  Soon  after  the 
establishment  of  other  missions  in 
Caliiornia,  and  the  quieting  and 
gathering  in  of  the  greater  part  of 
the  Indians  around  the  missions, 
settlers  from  Spain  and  Mexico 
began  to  come  in,  and  later  on  a  few  from  the  United  States,  England, 
and  elsewhere.  Nearly  all  of  these  settlers  obtained  grants  of  large 
tracts  of  land  from  the  Mexican  Go\'ernment,  which  have  since  been 
the  cause  ot  much  litigation,  envy,  and  quarreling.  These  grants  were 
simply  Mexican  homesteads,  gi\'en  to  settle  the  country  just  as  the 
United  States  homesteads  are  given,  for  practically  nothing. 

Instead  of  selling  a  man,  as  the  United  States  then  did,  all  the  land 

.0; 


lo  CITY  AXD  COrXTY  ( ^F  SAN  DIFj; O. 

he  wanted  for  $1.25  an  acre,  the  Mexican  Government  gave  it  to  him  by 
the  square  league.  The  grants  were  made  large  partly  as  an  inducement 
to  the  settler  to  go  into  such  a  wild  and  remote  country,  but  mainly 
because  the  raising  of  cattle  for  the  hides  and  tallow  being  the  only  in- 
dustry, a  large  range  was  absolutely  necessary  for  profit  as  well  as  the 
sujiport  of  the  band  of  retainers  necessary  for  profit  and  safety.  Instead 
of  abusing  the  owner  of  a  grant  as  a  monopolist  and  a  robber,  the  man 
who  felt  bad  because  he  did  not  own  a  slice  of  it,  should  have  remem- 
bered that  he  or  his  father  or  grandfather  might  have  had  it  just  as 
easily.  But  they  preferred  the  luxuries  of  civilization  to  a  rude  life  in  a 
foreign  country,  both  wild  and  remote,  and  which,  as  everyone  then 
believed,  would  never  be  anything  but  a  wild  cattle  range.  The  man 
who  endured  years  of  privation  for  its  sake,  coulci  scarcely  be  blamed 
for  wanting  something  for  it.  In  some  respects  these  large  holdings 
have  been  an  injury  to  California.  But  it  is  equally  certain  that  the 
results  have  not  been  one-sided.  Such  improvements  as  have  been  made 
at  Coronado  Beach,  Escondido,  and  many  other  places  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, would  have  waited  fifty  years,  had  the  land  been  half  covered 
with  ordinary  farms.  Riverside,  Pasadena,  and  nearly  all  that  is  of 
much  value  in  Los  Angeles  and  San  Bernardino  Counties,  owes  its  value 
to  the  fact  that  the  control  of  the  water,  highways,  and  improvements  of 
all  kinds  were  in  one  hand. 

Nevertheless  the  first  effect  of  these  large  grants  was  to  retard 
settlement.  The  county  of  San  Diego,  in  common  with  the  rest  of 
Southern  California,  was  then  believed  to  be  a  veritable  desert  of  sand, 
cactus,  and  horned  toads,  fit  only  for  stock  range  at  the  rate  of  about 
one  hundred  acres  to  each  animal.  The  owners  of  the  large  ranchos, 
who  knew  better  than  this,  stillbelieved  the  land  fit  only  for  stock  range; 
and  as  they  practically  owned  all  the  outside  range,  they  naturally 
looked  with  jealousy  upon  the  incoming  of  any  farmers  either  to  over- 
stock the  ranges  or  to  make  cultivated  fields,  upon  which  the  cattle 
would  trespass  and  cause  trouble.  Hence,  it  was  for  the  interest  of  all 
these  large  owners  to  keej)  up  the  cry  that  the  land  was  of  no  use  for 
anything  but  stock,  even  had  they  not  really  believed  it. 

Under  these  influences  the  county  remained  virtually  an  open  stock 
range,  covered  with  many  thousands  of  cattle  and  horses,  for  about 
twenty  years  after  the  admission  of  California  to  the  Union.  A  very 
few  persons  had  come  in  and  attempted  farming,  some  on  large  and 
some  on  small  scales,  but  made  a  poor  headway  against  low  prices,  wild 
cattle  and  their  own  ignorance  of  the  land's  peculiarities.  Much  quarrel- 
ing and  bad  feeling  between  the  new  settlers  and  the  old  necessarily  re- 
sulted. On  the  one  hand  the  ranchero  claimed  that  his  lines  embraced 
all  available  Government  land  in  his  vicinity,  and  ate  out  the  crops  of 
the  granger  with  his  cattle.     In  this  he  was  aided  by  the  sheep-man, 


THE  EARL  Y  DA  VS.  ii 

who  had  for  some  time  bee«  a  ijower  in  the  hind  and  who  wanted  all  the 
public  grazing  for  himself  On  the  other  hand,  too  many  a  ' '  granger 
ignored  all  lines,  declared  all  grants  frauds,  denounced  his  Government 
for  recognizing  vested  rights,  scjuatted  in  force  upon  what  was  uncjues- 
tionably  within  the  grant  lines,  and  shot  the  ranchero's  cattle  not  only 
in  his  grain  fields,  but  in  the  iiills.  The  cattle  shot  in  the  fields  were 
left  where  they  lay,  but  the  beef  upon  which  some  of  the  new  settlers 
kept  fat  came  from  the  hills. 

The  "granger"  increased  so  fast  under  the  impetus  given  by  the 
founding  of  New  San  Diego,  the  fact — first  proved  by  J.  S.  Harbison,  of 
Sacramento,  who  brought  the  first  bees  into  California  and  into  this 
county — that  enormous  quantities  of  fine  honey  could  be  raised  here, 
and  the  fine  climate,  that  he  soon  became  a  power  in  the  land.  The 
squatter,  or  ' '  esquatero, "  as  he  was  contemptously  called  by  the  sheep 
and  cattle-men,  finally  walked  off  with  the  country,  as  he  eventually 
will  with  the  great  cattle  ranges  of  the  great  western  basins.  About 
1870  he  worked  through  the  Legislature  a  law  which  broke  up  the  old 
free  range  system  which  had  been  in  use  in  all  the  new  States  of  the 
West  in  their  early  days.  Under  this  system  damages  for  trespass  by 
cattle  could  be  had  only  upon  proof  that  the  land  was  protected  by  a 
fence  of  a  certain  size.  The  new  law,  or  "no-fence  law,"  as  it  was 
called,  made  the  common  law  of  England,  by  which  e\'ery  man  must- 
keep  his  cattle  on  his  own  land,  the  law  of  this  county. 

This  law  soon  reduced  the  raising  of  cattle  and  horses  to  a  minimum, 
because  it  was  too  expensive  at  that  time  to  fence  the  large  ranchos,  and 
because  the  free  range  upon  which  cattle  had  heretofore  run  was  prac- 
tically destroyed.  The  sheep  interest  did  not  suffer,  but  improved  in 
consequence  of  the  law.  Being  under  the  care  of  a  herder  day  and 
night,  sheep  could  not  trespass,  and  the  amount  of  free  range  on  public 
land  was  increased  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  cattle  and  horses.  From 
this  time  sheep-raising,  bee-keeping,  and  general  farming  became  the 
leading  industries,  though  on  a  few^  of  the  large  ranchos,  such  as  Santa 
Margarita  and  Santa  Rosa,  the  cattle  were  retained.  The  ranchos 
remained,  however,  closed  to  settlement,  as  the  owners  did  not  care  to 
admit  a  few  small  farmers,  and  there  was  then  no  probability  of  getting 
settlers  enough  to  make  subdivision  profitable.  El  Cajon,  San  Dieguito. 
and  La  Nacion  were  for  many  years  the  only  ranchos  open  to  settle- 
ment, and  the  farmer  had  to  seek  such  spots  as  lay  around  the  grants  or 
in  the  small  valleys  in  the  surrounding  hills.  Some  very  valuable  tracts, 
such  as  Poway,  Fallbrook,  and  San  Pasqual,  never  were  included  in 
grants  and  were  speedily  taken  up.  Hundreds  of  other  small  tracts 
were  scattered  over  the  land  in  pieces  of  from  one  hundred  to  a  thou- 
sand acres  or  more,  and  of  these  the  s'.naller  ones  were  gradually 
settled,   until  it  became    neiu'ly  impossible  to  find  forty  acres  of  good, 


12 


CfTY  AXn  COrXTY  OF  SAX  DIEGO. 


aral)le  ( iox-ernnifnt  land  west  of  the  desert  di\ide.  San  Jacinto  was 
ojjened  to  general  settlement  in  1882,  Escondido  in  18S6,  Ex-Mission 
/  in  18.S5,  Santa  Maria  in  1886,  San  Marcos  in  1887,  Temecula  in  1883. 
But  many  of  the  large  grants  still  remain  closed,  though  it  will  be  but 
a  short  time  liefore  all  of  them  are  upon  the  market  in  small  tracts. 


CHAPTER    II 


PROGRESS  OF  FARMING,  ETC. 

iF  ever  a  country  needed  good  plowing  it  was  San  Diego 
County.  If  ever  a  country  failed  to  get  it,  it  was  this  same 
San  Diego.  The  long  tramp,  tramp,  tramp,  of  immense 
bands  of  sheep  over  the  ground  while  it  was  wet  had 
packed  it  to  the  hardness  of  an  adobe  brick.  Even  the 
alfileria  and  burr-clo\'er,  which  endure  more  ill  treatment 
than  almost  any  other  vegetation,  failed  to  reach  half  their 
natural  size.  In  many  places  they  were  nearly  destro)-ed 
by  being  eaten  otf  while  growing,  and  foxtail  and  other 
kinds  of  poverty  grass  and  rank  weeds  were  in  their  places. 
The  desolate  appearance  gi\'en  the  land  by  the  bands  of  sheep,  can 
scarcely  be  imagined  to-day  by  those  who  look  only  upon  the  cultivated 
vineyards  of  El  Cajon,  or  the  alfalfa  fields  of  San  Jacinto. 

"  Tickle  the  earth  with  a  plow  and  it  will  laugh  with  a  harvest," 
some  well-meaning  goose  had  written  of  California,  in  the  days  gone  by. 
Unfortunately  for  the  land  this  was  true  in  many  seasons.  In  fact,  in 
three  seasons  out  of  ten,  grain  sown  upon  an  old  road  or  abandoned 
brick-yard  will  do  about  as  well  as  anywhere.  In  two  years  more  out  of 
ten,  the  mildest  scratching  will  suffice.  As  the  great  California  weather 
prophet  remembers  only  his  predictions  that  turn  out  correct,  so  the 
new  farmer  remembered  only  his  successes,  and  scratching  in  grain  with 
a  cultivator,  harrow,  or  even  a  brush-drag,  became  the  rule.  Even 
where  a  gang  plow  was  used,  there  was  no  plowing,  the  plows  being  so 
numerous  that  no  team  could  draw  them  if  deeply  set.  For  )-ears  the 
single  j)low  was  never  seen  in  use,  except  to  make  a  road  or  break 
brushy  ground.  Many  defended  this  style  of  farming  on  reasoning  that 
appeared  sound.  "  If  it  is  a  good  year  I  will  get  a  good  crop  anyhow, 
no  matter  how  carelessly  put  in.  If  it's  a  bad  year,  I  won't  get  a  crop 
no  matter  how  well  it  is  put  in.  By  scratching  I  can  get  in  four  or  fi\e 
times  as  much  ground  as  I  can  with  good  ]:)lowing,  and  the  chances  of 
a  good  season  are  always  six  out  of  ten." 

The  crops  raised  under  this   system   were   sometimes   enormous, 
exceeding  the  heaviest  yields  ever  known  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  when  combined  with  a  good  price,   often  yielded  a  hea\'y  return 
2  (13) 


14  CITY  AXD  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

over  expenses.  But  in  the  lont;'  run  this  style  has  been  a  failure.  It 
soon  made  the  soil  foul  with  weeds,  cheat,  etc.,  reducing  the  quality  and 
quantity  of  the  grain,  so  that  it  became  necessary  to  lose  an  occasional 
year  by  summer  fallow.  And  in  the  years  of  light  or  average  rainfall, 
the  want  of  good  plowing  told  too  heavily.  In  the  mountain  belts, 
where  there  was  always  rain  enough  in  dry  years,  there  was  too  much 
in  }'ears  when  there  was  enough  along  the  coast.  Fine  crops  were 
raised  there  in  such  severely  dry  years  as  1877  and  1883,  but  the  cost 
of  hauling  to  market  was  too  great. 

The  smaller  farmers,  who  sowed  small  areas  with  grain,  did  better 
work  and  had  better  crops.  But  their  work  was  generally  a  failure  in 
the  long  run  for  another  reason :  The  big  farmers  did  everything  by 
machinery  and  hired  labor,  and  it  was  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  small 
farmer  to  do  otherwise.  There  was  not  a  cradle,  flail,  or  threshing  floor 
among  the  Americans  in  the  whole  county;  and  if  a  man  had  only 
twenty  acres  of  grain,  he  must  have  it  cut  with  a  header  and  threshed 
with  a  threshing  machine,  no  matter  how  much  spare  time  he  or  his 
boys  might  have.  When  harvest  came  a  small  army  of  ravenous  hands 
and  horses  would  descend  upon  him,  generally  on  Saturday  night,  so 
as  to  insure  rations  for  Sunday.  Instead  of  cutting  around  the  field 
with  a  cradle  to  make  a  way  for  the  header,  the  ponderous  machine 
smashed  its  own  way  around  the  first  swath  or  up  the  center  of  the  field. 
The  knives,  sharpened  apparently  but  once  a  year,  tore  and  stripped 
many  a  stalk  instead  of  cutting  it,  and  many  a  head  of  grain  was  so 
badly  cut  that  it  fell  under  the  machine  instead  of  in  the  receiver.  From 
fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent  of  the  crop  was  thus  wasted,  and  there  was  no 
gleaning  of  the  stubbles  except  with  the  live  stock.  When  threshing- 
time  came  around,  the  same  wasteful  extravagance  was  repeated  on  a 
still  greater  scale.  By  the  time  the  farmer  had  his  grain  sacked  and 
hauled  to  market,  he  was  often  in  debt  and  seldom  much  ahead. 

In  many  other  respects,  San  Diego  County  farming  was  about  the 
worst  in  the  world.  Make  no  machinery  that  you  can  buy,  and  do 
nothing  yourself  that  you  can  hire  anyone  else  to  do,  seemed  to  be  the 
cardinal  principle.  Nearly  all  were  farming,  not  for  something  to  eat  or 
use  on  the  farm,  but  for  something  to  haul  many  miles  to  market  to  sell 
at  a  low  price,  to  buy  provisions  at  a  high  price,  to  haul  all  the  way 
home  again  to  eat.  Never  did  it  take  men  so  long  to  learn  anything. 
One  man  would  lose  a  hundred  chickens  by  wild  cats  and  cayotes  before 
he  would  learn  to  shut  the  coop  at  night.  Another  would  lose  his  gar- 
den or  young  \-ines  two  or  three  years  in  succession  before  discovering 
that  a  rabbit-proof  fence  was  the  first  and  not  the  last  requisite.  Other 
farmers  seemed  to  forget  e\erything  they  ever  knew  before.  Men  who, 
in  Illinois,  planted  corn  forty  inches  apart  in  rows  straight  both  ways 
and  culti\ated  it  constantly  until  it    was    too    high    to    drive  through, 


PROGRESS  OF  FARMING.  ETC.  15 

planted  it  here  in  rows  but  twenty  inches  apart,  crooked  both  ways,  and 
never  afterward  touched  it.  The  same  was  done  with  potatoes  and  all 
kinds  of  produce  planted  in  hills  or  rows.  And  though  Heaven 
rewarded  their  folly  as  it  deserved,  yet  year  after  year,  as  the  spring 
came  around,  they  went  through  the  same  old  ceremony,  as  if  trying  a 
new  experiment  in  a  new  country.  The  same  thing  may  be  seen  to-day 
in  too  many  places.  Yet,  in  spite  of  all  this  carelessness,  coupled  with 
high  rates  of  interest  and  high  prices  for  all  manner  of  goods  and 
machinery,  the  farmers  of  this  county  generally  lived  better,  had  more 
spare  time,  more  spare  change,  and  fewer  mortgage  foreclosures  than 
the  farmers  of  any  other  State.  The  absence  of  rain,  hail,  etc.,  in 
summer  and  the  difference  in  the  cost  of  getting  through  the  winter, 
more  than  overbalanced  all  else. 

For  several  years,  beginning  about  1869,  bee-keeping  was  im- 
mensely profitable,  and  in  the  warm  days  of  winter  and  spring,  the  air 
above  the  spangled  earth  was  a  steady  hum.  About  1878  the  price  of 
honey  began  to  decline,  with  a  decided  falling  off  in  the  certainty  of 
production.  The  use  of  glucose  for  adulteration,  in  the  East,  has  proba- 
bly broken  the  price.  The  decline  in  production  has  been  explained  in 
various  ways,  all  of  which  are  unsatisfactory.  These  styles  of  farming 
continued  up  to  about  1880,  when  slight  changes  lor  the  better  were 
noticed,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present,  the  inflow  of  new-comers, 
with  the  advance  of  new  ideas  and  principles  worked  out  in  the  coun- 
ties north  of  us,  has  brought  about  a  decided  revolution,  which  is  fast 
spreading. 


CHAPTER    III. 


(fftj^:^^ 


BEGINNING  OF  FRUIT  AND  VINE 
CULTURE. 


OR  a  long  time  it  was  supposed  that  fruit  and  grapes,  as 
well  as  garden-stuff,  could  not  be  grown  in  California 
without  irrigation.  The  irrigation  facilities  of  this  county, 
being  generally  expensive,  were  not  developed  to  any 
extent.  Even  in  the  few  places  where  water  was  cheaply 
obtained  there  was  no  encouragement  to  raise  anything. 
A  wagon  load  of  any  kind  of  fruit  would  drug  the  Saa 
Diego  market  and  shipping  it  farther  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. Some  made  a  few  dollars  by  selling  to  their 
neighbors;  but  most  of  the  neighbors  preferred  to  wait 
until  they  could  get  it  lor  nothing.  To  raise  fruit  or  even  vegetables 
for  one's  own  use  was  not  only  expensive  but  vexatious,  on  account 
of  birds,  rabbits,  squirrels,  etc. ,  which  concentrate  upon  an  isolated 
patch  of  anything  green  in  summer;  and  the  farmer  soon  concluded  it 
was  cheaper  to  buy  from  someone  else,  or  go  without,  than  to  bother 
with  such  things.  A  few,  however,  as  far  back  as  ten  years  ago,  had 
orchards  and  gardens  not  excelled  to-day.  At  Fallbrook,  the  place  of 
V.  C.  Reche,  was  a  perfect  oasis  of  the  richest  green ;  apricots,  oranges, 
lemons,  peaches,  apples,  quinces,  and  what  not  of  the  finest  quality, 
abounded.  At  Julian,  Mr.  Madison  and  others  were  raising  deciduous 
fruits  and  berries  of  the  finest  kind.  On  Mesa  Grande,  Mr.  Gedney 
was  doing  the  same;  others  throughout  the  county  were  beginning  to 
follow  them.  Around  San  Diego  Bay,  especially  in  and  around  National 
City  and  Chollas  Valley,  fine  orchards  and  gardens  twelve  years  ago 
had  answered  the  sneers  of  those  who  said  that  the  land  w-as  fit  only  for 
stock.  A  few  vineyards  at  long  intervals  already  foretold  the  coming^ 
land  of  the  grape,  and  at  the  old  missions  a  few  old  trees  proved  abun- 
dantly what  the  olive  could  do  with  half  an  opportunity. 

Irrigation  was  confined  to  a  few  spots  on  the  river  bottoms  or  low- 
lands and  was  of  the  old-fashioned  kind,  a  drenching  of  the  ground 
every  few  days,  with  no  cultivation  whatever.  The  greater  part  of  the 
water  was  used  only  by  Indians,  and  where  used  by  the  whites  was 
principally  for  corn,  melons,  garden  produce,  or  grapes,  which  were  then 
(16) 


BEGINNING  OF  FRUir  AND    VINF  CULTURE.      17 

supposed  to  need  plenty  of  water  even  on  low  ground.  Some  irri- 
gatioii  with  windmills  was  attempted  in  a  few  places,  and  was  as  near  a 
success  as  windmill  irrigation  pumping  against  a  long  lift  can  be.  But  the 
quality  of  the  fruit,  especially  oranges  and  lemons,  was  inferior,  because 
water  was  used  as  a  substitute  for  cultivation,  and  the  best  varieties  were 
not  yet  planted.  In  the  North  the  plow  had  for  years  been  creeping  from 
the  low-lands,  which  for  a  time  were  supposed  to  be  the  only  lands 
available  for  culture,  farther  up  the  slopes.  It  had  been  discovered  that 
the  slopes  and  uplands  were  not  only  better  for  vines  and  many  kinds 
of  fruit,  but  would,  with  close  and  constant  cultivation,  retain  moisture 
enough  during  the  summer  to  raise  fair  crops  of  grapes,  deciduous  fruits, 
and  other  produce.  This  discovery  spread  South  through  the  different 
counties,  and  about  1880  began  to  dawn  as  a  new  idea  in  San  Diego. 
Some  people  imagined  that  they  were  the  discoverers,  others  that  this 
power  of  the  soil  was  confined  to  their  special  locality.  By  1882  the 
idea  had  become  widespread,  and  from  that  time  truly  dates  the  rise  of 
fruit  culture  in  San  Diego  County,  although  in  some  favored  localities 
good  fruit  had  been  grown  without  irrigation  many  years  before. 

In  1882  R.  G.  Clark  produced  in  El  Cajon  the  first  raisins  cured  in  , 
the  county;  their  quality  was  so  fine  that  they  attracted  the  immediate 
attention  of  Riverside  growers,  who  at  once  bought  a  large  tract  of 
land  in  El  Cajon.  Geo.  A.  Cowles  and  others  in  different  sections  had 
in  the  meantihie  set  out  vineyards,  and  the  following  year  sustained  the 
reputation  of  the  raisins  so  well  that  it  has  scarce  been  questioned  since. 
About  the  same  time  oranges  and  lemons  from  the  National  Ranch  and 
Janal  began  to  excite  wonder  at  the  fairs  of  Riverside  and  Los  Angeles. 
The  lemons  were  soon  conceded  to  be  superior  and  the  oranges  puzzled 
the  best  judges.  With  the  exception  of  specimen  fruits  raised  in  this 
way  by  people  who  could  afford  to  play  with  them,  little  has  been  done 
until  the  past  two  or  three  years.  The  local  market  was  too  small  and 
shipping  long  distances  at  a  profit  in  small  quantities  was  out  of  the 
question.  Now,  thousands  of  acres  are  coming  into  bearing,  and  thou- 
sands more  are  planting.  The  oil-press  is  at  work  turning  out  the  finest 
of  olive  oil;  and  hundreds  of  tons  of  raisins  are  yearly  dried.  It  will 
be  but  a  short  time  before  the  railroad  will  run  refrigerator  cars  and  then 
the  great  market  of  the  world  will  call  fortli  a  pent-up  energy  that  is 
now  little  dreamed  of  The  cajjacity  of  the  count}-  in  the  way  of  raising 
fruit  is  immense;  but  until  there  are  transportation  facilities,  people  will 
not  plant  to  any  extent.  This  failure  to  plant,  of  course,  delays  the 
building  of  railroads,  etc.  Each  one  reacts  for  a  time  upon  the  other, 
but  the  see-saw  is  finally  broken  and  the  outlet  is  furnished. 
2 


CHAPTER    IV. 


RISE  OF  SAN  DIEGO  CITY. 


'HE  first  settlement  made  in  California  was  on  San 
Diego  Bay.  In  July,  1769,  the  first  mission  in 
California  was  built  at  Old  San  Diego,  now  called 
Old  Town,  some  three  miles  west  of  the  present 
city,  and  the  old  ruins  on  the  hill  above  the  town 
are  the  oldest  relics  of  the  first  year  of  civilization 
in  this  State.  Old  Town  is  also  the  oldest  munic- 
ality  in  the  State.  In  January,  1835,  the  city 
go\ernment  was  organized.  Ten  years  afterward  the  city 
lands,  to  the  extent  of  forty-seven  thousand  acres,  were 
sur\'eyed  and  mapped  and  granted  to  it  by  the  Government 
of  Mexico.  This  grant  was  afterwards  confirmed  and  patented  by  the 
United  States,  and  hence  the  magnificent  proportions  of  the  present 
city  limits. 

For  many  years  the  only  business  done  at  Old  Town  was  the  ship- 
ment of  hides  and  tallow.  The  population  was  then  almost  entirely 
Mexican,  though  a  \'ery  few  Americans  and  other  foreigners  were  there. 
When  California  was  admitted  as  a  State  and  divided  into  counties.  Old 
Town  became  the  county  seat  and  remained  so  for  many  years.  A  k\v 
more  Americans  came  about  the  same  time;  some  of  the  most  prosper- 
ous and  respectable  of  the  present  citizens  of  San  Diego,  E.  W.  Morse, 
James  McCoy,  O.  S.  Witherby,  Thomas  Whaley,  Joseph  Mannasse, 
aiul  others  were  among  the  first  to  settle  there.  For  many  years  Old 
Tcjwn  contained  all  the  life  upon  San  Diego  Bay,  and  the  old  plaza  and 
old  adobe  buildings  surrounding  it  could  tell  high  tales  of  the  olden 
time  if  they  could  talk.  Until  after  the  establishment  of  New  San 
Diego,  it  remained  substantially  a  Mexican  town.  Spanish  was  the 
principal  language  spoken,  and  the  tinkle  of  the  guitar,  the  jingle  of  spurs, 
and  the  clink  of  coin  on  the  monte  blanket  were  the  principal  sounds  of 
civilization.  The  country  was  then  full  of  cattle,  which,  after  the  inflow 
of  the  gold-seekers  in  the  North,  brought  for  years  a  good  price.  Money 
(18) 


RISE  OF  SAN  DIEGO  CITY.  19 

was  abundant,-  coming  easily  antl  going  easily,  and  kept  well  in  circula- 
tion through  the  active  medium  of  cards  and  horse-races.  The  old 
Spanish  settlers  were  lavish  and  reckless,  borrowing  at  any  rate  of 
interest,  and  many  of  the  best  ranches  thus  passed  into  the  stranger's 
hand. 

As  early  as  1850,  an  attempt  was  made  to  colonize  the  present  site 
of  San  Diego.  Several  houses  were  then  built  near  the  present  Govern- 
ment barracks.  The  barracks  were  built  about  the  same  time  for  a 
depot  of  military  supplies,  the  soldiers  being  then  quartered  at  the  old 
mission.  San  Diego  was  then  the  base  of  military  supplies  for  Fort 
Tejon,  Fort  Yuma,  andother  i)oints  to  which  wagon  trains  were  run  from 
S  in  Diego.  About  this  time  the  first  wharf  on  San  Diego  Bay  was 
built  at  this  point  by  William  Heath  Da\is,  for  which  he  received  a 
grant  of  land  around  it  from  the  city.  This  first  settlement  was  made 
without  any  railroad  expectations  and  solely  on  the  strength  of  harbor 
and  climate.  The  old  Californian  of  that  day  saw  the  importance  of 
these  and  sought  even  then  to  realize  on  his  foresight.  But  he  shared  the 
common  fate  of  foresight  when  not  sufficiently  backed  with  such  little  aids 
for  waiting  as  youth  and  wealth.  The  excitement  soon  died  out,  most  of 
the  houses  were  moved  up  to  Old  Town,  the  wharf  speedily  fell  before  the 
teredo,  and  the  cayote  and  wild  cat  were  again  left  in  possession.  In  the 
year  1867,  foresight  again  appeared  upon  the  scene  in  the  more  substantial 
shape  of  A.  E.  Horton.  For  twenty-six  cents  an  acre  he  bought  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  where  the  central  part  of  San  Diego  now  stands, 
and  laid  out  the  city.  In  the  meantime  two  or  three  railroads  had  been 
projected,  one  of  them  as  far  back  as  1854,  but  little  had  been  done 
beyond  organizing  a  company.  Soon  after  the  founding  of  the  new 
city  by  Mr.  Horton,  the  projected  Memphis  and  El  Paso  Railro'ad  began 
to  look  like  a  certainty  and  the  first  ' '  boom  ' '  in  San  Diego  began. 
Railroad  meetings  were  the  order  of  the  day,  the  steamers  brought 
many  new-comers  from  the  North,  and  many  of  the  present  old  residents 
came  here  first  upon  the  strength  of  the  bright  prospects.  The  new 
city  grew  rapidly  to  a  town  of  tweh-e  or  fifteen  hundred,  when  suddenly 
the  shining  bubble  burst.  There  was  then  but  little  settlement  in  the 
back  country  to  support  a  town,  and  but  for  the  numerous  quails  and 
rabbits  about  town,  there  would  have  been  more  than  one  slim  larder  in 
the  new  city. 

In  187 1  the  Texas  Pacific  Railroad  was  organized  and  the  luxuriant 
mushroom  of  brief  hope  again  sprung  up.  A  handsome  subsidv  was 
voted  Colonel  Scott  for  the  road,  ten  miles  of  it  were  graded — much  oi 
which  may  still  be  seen — strangers  poured  in,  and  the  population  rapidly 
grew  to  nearly  four  thousand  people.  During  this  time  the  Horton  House, 
Horton's  Hall,  Horton's  Bank,  and  se\eral  other  buildings,  beside  a 
large  wharf,  were  built  by   Mr.    Horton,  and  \arious  enterprises  and 


20  CITY  AXn   COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

churches  were  aided  by  his  Hberality.  Many  buildings  were  built  which 
look  highly  respectable  beside  the  more  modern  ones  qf  to-day.  Some 
of  these  were  very  large  for  the  size  of  the  city  at  that  time,  and  some 
on  an  extravagant  scale,  such  as  the  building  now  occupied  by  Hamil- 
ton <S:  Co. ,  which  was  built  for  a  city  market  and  was  large  enough  for  a 
city  of  ten  times  the  size.  In  the  meantime  the  county  seat  was  moved 
from  Old  Town  to  ' '  New  Town ' '  and  the  present  Court  House  built. 
Most  of  the  American  settlers  and  many  of  the  Mexican  residents  mo','ed 
down  to  the  new  city  and  Old  Town  became  more  of  a  curiosity  than  a 
town.  Some  of  the  older  American  residents  have  still  clung  to  it, 
partly  because  of  past  associations  and  partly  because  it  has  the  best 
climate  on  the  bay.  When  the  old  adobes  and  other  ancient  rookeries 
are  removed  it  will  be  very  desirable  residence  property,  but  these  now 
stand  in  the  way  of  its  jDrogress. 

Soon  after  the  city  was  begun  by  Mr.  Horton,  Frank  Kimball  and 
Warren  Kimball  had  also  a  severe  attack  of  foresight,  which  was  quite 
as  well  founded  as  that  of  Mr.  Horton.  The  lands  of  the  National 
Ranch  were  better  in  quality  and  more  free  from  gravel,  gullies,  etc. , 
than  those  immediately  surrounding  Mr.  Horton' s  new  city.  Four 
miles  south  of  New  San  Diego  was  as  good  a  water  front,  with  as  deep 
water,  with  thousands  upon  thousands  of  acres  of  fine  land  sloping  gen- 
tly away  into  lofty  and  fertile  table-lands.  The  Kimballs  saw  that  some 
day  those  slopes  would  be  covered  with  fine  residences,  surrounded  with 
gro\-es  of  orange  and  lemon  and  everything  that  in  Southern  California 
can  be  grown  at  all.  They  bought  the  rancho,  containing  some  twenty- 
seven  thousand  acres,  built  a  fine  wharf  and  several  other  buildings,  put 
the  tract  on  the  market,  laid  out  National  City,  and  made  many  sales.  For 
a  time  it  looked  as  if  it  would  be  a  formidable  rival  of  San  Diego,  and  a 
foolish  envy  then  sprung  up,  which  for  years  has  been  an  injury  to  both 
places,  but  which  is  now  about  dead.  Many  settlers  came  in  and  bought 
the  lands,  and  the  first  attempts  made  by  the  Americans  to  raise  anything 
upon  the  coast  lands  were  made  in  Paradise  Valley  upon  the  rancho  and 
in  Chollas  Valley  adjoining  it.  In  the  brighter  light  of  to-day  those  first 
experiments  appear  extremely  crude.  Nevertheless  they  were  a  suffi- 
cient answer  to  the  laughers  and  sneerers,  who  for  a  time  had  things  all 
their  own  way  and  declared  that  nothing  could  be  grown  here  e\'en  with 
water.  The  finest  places  and  best  orchards,  vineyards,  and  gardens  to 
be  found  upon  the  bay  of  San  Diego,  are  to  be  found  upon  that  rancho 
to-day;  not  because  they  cannot  be  equaled  on  the  fine  table-lands 
about  San  Diego,  but  because  the  lands  of  National  City  were  so 
much  lower  that  water  was  easil\  obtained  b\-  windmills. 


CHAPTER    V. 


THE  LONG  SLEEP. 

S  the  best  target  shot  with  the  rifle  finds  the  estimating 
of  distance  a  source  of  error  that  he  can  never  wholly 
master  when  shooting  at  game,  so  the  keenest  fore- 
sight fails  to  master  that  provoking  variety  of  dis- 
tance known  as  time.  The  eye  of  faith  is  true,  the 
atmosphere  is  clear,  the  outlines  of  the  game  can  be 
seen.  Through  the  mirage  of  heated  imagination  it 
dances  entrancingly  near,  and  the  labor  of  the  day 
is  staked  perhaps  upon  a  single  shot  which  falls  a 
long  way  short. 

What  the  Texas  Pacific  might  have  done  for  San  Diego  it  is  useless 
now  to  inquire.  The  financial  crash  of  1873,  beginning  with  the  failure 
of  Jay  Cooke,  crippled  the  resources  of  Colonel  Scott.  He  went  abroad 
to  borrow  money  and  failed.  He  has  been  blamed  by  many  as  a  swin- 
dler, but  there  seems  every  reason  to  believe  that  he  was  acting  with  the 
best  of  faith.  In  such  a  crisis  the  best  enterprises  cannot  borrow,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  capital  dare  not  lend  to  any  great  extent  no 
matter  what  the  security. 

The  population  of  both  San  Diego  and  National  City  rapidly  declined 
to  a  few  dozen  at  National  and  about  twenty-five  hundred  at  San  Diego. 
The  real  estate  offices  were  deserted;  the  hotels  had  more  waiters  than 
guests;  empty  stores  and  vacant  houses  became  numerous  on  all  sides. 
Day  after  day  and  year  after  year  the  bright  sun  shone  upon  quiet 
streets  and  store-keepers  staring  out  of  the  door  at  an  almost  unbroken 
vacancy.  Many  a  man  tn  San  Diego  during  those  long  years  that  fol- 
lowed sat  and  looked  at  nothing  long  enough  to  have  made  a  fine  lawyer, 
doctor,  engineer,  or  a  fine  literary  scholar  if  he  had  onlv  substituted  a 
book  tor  the  empty  door-way. 

Still  a  large  majority  clung  with  undying  faith  to  their  investments. 
They  found  in  the  soft  and  steady  sunshine  of  San  Diego  a  comfort  they 
had  never  before  known,  and  most  of  them  would  have  remained  even 
had  they  known  that  their  dying  eyes  would  close  upon  empty  streets 
and  vacant  lots.  The  painful  duty  of  an  impartial  historian  requires  the 
writer  to  record  the  farther  fact  that  more  than  one  representati\e  of  the 

(21) 


22  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

great  "  j)rogressive,  enterprising  citizen  whose  undying  faith  in  San 
Diego  has  made  him  rich"  (as  we  occasionally  read  in  the  papers  of 
the  day),  has  become  so  on  the  rise  of  town  lots  that  he  tried  for  years 
in  vain  to  sell  for  money  enough  to  get  out  of  town  with. 

Many  whose  faith  in  the  future  of  San  Diego  \vas  unshaken  had  to 
leave  for  better  (temporary)  fields,  and  most  of  these  ha\'e  returned. 
Many  more  shook  the  dust  of  San  Diego  forever  from  their  feet  and 
spent  most  of  their  time  thereafter  in  pouring  out  all  the  bitterness  that 
disapjiointed  flmcy  could  conceive.  The  misfortunes  of  San  Diego  dur- 
ing all  this  time  served  as  a  whetstone  for  the  newspaper  wit  of  the 
State,  a  sure  resource  when  everything  else  failed.  Their  jokes  were 
quickly  accepted  as  fact,  and  along  the  whole  coast  the  most  absurd 
stories  were  told  all  travelers  with  all  the  solemnity  that  the  conscious- 
ness of  duty  to  fellow-man  imposes.  One  of  the  favorites  of  that  day 
along  the  coast  was  the  following: — 

"What?  you  a-going  down  to  Sa-a-a-ndy  Ago ? "  (Questioner 
backing  off  and  surveying  from  head  to  foot  and  back  again  the  rash 
mortal  who  had    mentioned   San  Diego  as   his   possible   destination.) 

"  Do  you  know  where   in you  are  going   to?     Why  you  pick  up 

a  handful  oi  dirt  down  there  and  in  two  seconds  half  of  it  is  gone. 
That's  fleas.  In  a  minute  more  the  rest  has  slipped  through  your 
fingers.  That's  sand.  Why,  that's  what  it  gets  its  name  from, 
Sa-a-a-a-a-ndy  Ago." 

Another  common  and  convincing  derivation  was  ' '  Sandyague, ' ' 
from  sand  and  ague,  which  were  supposed  to  be  the  leading  features,  next 
to  rattlesnakes  and  tarantulas. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  in  favorable  breeding  seasons  San  Diego, 
like  San  F'rancisco  and  Los  Angeles,  has  a  flea  or  two,  but  the  disinte- 
grated granite  soil,  which  in  washes  looks  like  sand,  has  proved  to  be, 
ne.xt  to  its  climate,  the  greatest  treasure  Southern  California  possesses. 
The  ague  talk,  like  all  the  rest,  was  a  perfect  absurdity. 

In  1876  an  attempt  was  made  to  get  Congress  to  guarantee  the 
bonds  of  the  Texas  Pacific  Railroad.  Mr.  Horton  and  Mr.  Felsenheld 
spent  most  of  the  winter  in  Washington  lobbying  with  Colonel  Scott.  But 
the  cry  of  ' '  no  more  subsidies  to  railroads ' '  arose  in  the  East,  and  was  at 
once  taken  up  by  the  Northwest,  which  wanted  no  Southern  line.  The 
clamor  of  these  two  sections,  aided  by  the  power  of  railroads,  that  al- 
ready had  all  the  subsidies  they  needed  and  never  did  need  any  compet- 
ing line,  overcame  the  strong  pressure  brought  to  bear  by  the  South, 
which  was  wholly  in  favor  of  the  measure. 

This  movement  awoke  no  life  in  San  Diego,  and  it  slept  on  until 
1881,  unbroken,  except,  in  1879,  by  a  slight  excitement  of  a  few  days 
caused  by  an  unfounded  railroad  rumor.  Out  of  this  one  real  estate 
man  made  enough  to  justify  the  ordering  of  a  new  buggv  from  San 
Francisco,  but  no  one  else  was  damaged  in  the  upper  story. 


■> 
z 


II 


THE   LONG   SLEEP.  23 

In  1881  Frank  A.  Kimball,  of  National  City,  who  had  been  about 
the  most  tireless  and  hberal  of  all  workers  in  behalf  of  the  bay  region, 
and  has  received  for  it  the  least  credit  of  anyone,  proposed  to  go  to 
Boston  to  see  if  he  could  not  induce  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa 
Fe  Railway  to  come  to  San  Diego.  He  was  answered  with  a  general 
guffaw  from  all  the  wise  ones,  and  many  of  the  leading  citizens  refused 
to  contribute  a  cent  toward  his  expenses.  His  reply  was  that  he  w-as 
able  to  pay  them  himself.  He  went  and  bearded  the  great  lion  in  his 
den,  amid  the  sneers  of  the  public,  who  never  can  learn  that  it  is  very 
unsafe  to  say  what  a  man  cannot  do  when  he  tries. 

He  met  nothing  but  rebuffs  and  cold  shoulders.  Nothing  daunted 
he  sat  down  for  a  prolonged  siege.  To  his  splendid  offer  of  seventeen 
thousand  acres  of  the  best  land  on  the  bay,  belonging  to  himself  and  his 
brother,  Warren  Kimball,  over  half  of  the  National  Ranch,  capital  at 
last  bent  a  listening  ear  and  sent  out  two  directors  of  the  road — Messrs. 
Piatt  and  Wilbur — to  investigate.  The  investigation  was  satisfactory; 
the  donations  of  land  were  increased  by  several  thousand  acres  from 
other  parties.  The  California  Southern  was  organized  and  finished  to 
Coltdn  in  San  Bernardino  County  in   1882. 

During  the  building  of  this  railroad  the  population  of  San  Diego 
increased  by  some  fifteen  hundred  people.  National  City,  the  terminus  of 
the  road,  grew  to  a  population  of  about  one  thousand.  Bright  hopes 
were  held  in  both  places,  but  in  both  they  were  doomed  to  a  blight  as 
speedy  and  severe  as  ever  before.  The  railroad  had  no  Eastern  con- 
nection; almost  every  man  in  San  Bernardino  and  Los  Angeles  Counties 
and  on  the  line  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  made  a  specialty  of 
abusing  San  Diego  and  warning  travel  away  from  it.  For  over  a 
year  after  the  completion  of  the  road  the  through  travel  from  Colton 
scarcely  averaged  five  passengers  a  dav,  of  which  two  or  three  were 
either  ' '  drummers  "  or  "  dead  heads. ' '  So  slight  was  the  amount  of  busi- 
ness that  in  running  through  the  huge  flocks  of  geese  and  ducks  which 
then  used  to  rise  beside  the  train  in  Santa  Margarita  X'alley,  the  train 
was  stopped,  as  a  matter  of  course,  if  any  game  were  shot  from  the  car. 
On  one  occasion  the  engineer  shot  with  a  pistol  at  an  acre  or  two  of 
geese  some  three  hundred  yards  away,  and  accidentally  hit  one.  He 
stopped  the  train  and  w^alked  leisurely  over  and  bagged  it. 

Meanwhile  National  City  lost  about  one-half  its  newh"  acquired 
population  and  San  Diego  more  than  all  that  had  come  in.  To  crown 
the  trouble  1882-83  '^^'^s  a  very  dry  winter  on  the  coast,  with  a  general 
failure  of  crops  on  all  the  unirrigated  low-lands.  In  the  fall  of  1883  the 
vacant  buildings  in  both  San  Diego  and  National  City  seemed  to  be 
fully  one-half  of  the  whole  number,  while  the  streets  of  San  Diego 
seemed  more  deserted  than  ever. 

On  the  1 6th  of  February.  1S84,  the  greater  part  of  the  railroad  in 
3 


24 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIRGO. 


Temccula  Canon  and  Santa  Margarita  was  washed  out  by  a  flood.  It 
had  been  built  too  low  by  Boston  engineers,  who  thought  it  never 
could  rain  in  San  Diego,  who  sneered  at  all  advice  of  old  settlers,  and 
were  too  wise  even  to  examine  the  drainage  area  of  the  stream  or  look 
at  the  rain  records  of  the  country.  Such  destruction  has  rarely  been 
seen,  and  nearly  nine  months  were  required  to  place  the  track  on  better 
ground  and  get  trains  running.     Then  were  dull  times  indeed. 

The  rebuilding  of  the  road  had  little  or  no  immediate  effect  in 
helping  matters.  There  was  little  increase  of  travel  for  some  time,  until 
it  became  known  that  the  road  would  be  extended  to  a  junction  with 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad  at  Barstow,  on  the  Mojave  Desert. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


THE  AWAKENING. 

'HROUGHOUT  the  long  line  of  lovely  days  that  dawned 
and  died  on  San  Diego  Bay  without  shining  on  a  new 
roof  or  a  happy  face,  the  interior  of  the  country  was 
steadily  settling.  But  stores  in  the  country  kept  such 
even  pace  with  the  growth  that  there  were  few  if  any 
more  wagons  in  town  in  1884  than  in  1875.  Con- 
siderable trade  was  of  course  done,  but  mainly  with 
eight  or  ten-mule  teams  and  two  or  three  wagons  that 
loaded  quietly  and  departed;  making  little  stir  upon 
the  streets  of  San  Diego.  Settlers  crept  from  National  City  up  the 
Sweetwater  Valley  and  from  San  Diego  to  El  Cajon,  which  rancho  was 
opened  to  settlement  as  early  as  1869.  The  mines  discovered  near 
Julian  about  that  time  brought  in  many  miners;  a  little  town  was  started 
there,  and  a  few  settlers  took  up  some  of  the  rich  little  valleys  around  it. 
The  tracts  of  Go\'ernment  land  surrounding  the  large  ranchos  were  soon 
sought  out  by  the  new-comers.  They  scaled  the  rugged  hills  that  sur- 
round Bear  Valley,  climbed  the  heights  of  Mesa  Grande  and  e\-en  the 
high  Volcan  and  Palomar.  A  few  of  these  were  ex-boomers  from  San 
Diego  who  saw  more  money  in  bees  than  in  corner  lots.  Some  were 
old  forty-niners  from  the  North  in  search  of  anything  new.  Others 
were  restless  wanderers  moving  farther  West  and  looking  for  a  home  of 
any  kind  in  this  farthest  West.  Many  others  were  people  more  or  less 
impaired  in  health,  in  search  of  a  mild  and  comfortable  climate  where 
they  could  make  a  living  by  some  light  out-of-door  work.  In  this  way 
the  American  population  outside  the  city  of  San  Diego  increased  from  a 
few  hundred  in  1868  to  some  twelve  thousand  or  nearly  five  times  that 
of  the  city  in  1884.  Yet  the  effect  upon  the  city  was  almost  inappre- 
ciable. 

In  the  early  part  of  1885  work  was  begun  upon  the  extension  oi 
the  California  Southern  to  Barstow.  This  was  quickly  construed  to 
mean  that  the  great  Santa  Fe  railroad  system  would  make  San  Diego 
its  Pacific  terminus.  In  the  spring  of  the  same  year  the  first  one  of  the 
series  of  extensive  water  s}'stems  that  are  shortly  to  make  San  Diego 
County  the  most  attracti\-e  county  in   the  State,  was  begun  on   the  San 

(25) 


26  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

Diego  River  on  a  scale  so  immense  that  the  usual  number  of  sages  made 
the  usual  number  of  predictions  about  what  cannot  be  done  by  people 
who  are  determined  to  do  something. 

During  all  these  years  that  San  Diego  was  waiting  and  watch- 
ing, the  counties  of  San  Bernardino  and  Los  Angeles  were  increasing 
in  population  at  a  much  greater  rate  than  San  Diego  County,  and  with 
a  far  greater  proportion  of  people  of  wealth.  From  very  early  times 
people  had  been  coming  to  California  on  account  of  its  climate.  But 
for  many  years  their  numbers  were  very  iow  and  contined  to  the  class  of 
decided  invalids.  After  the  completion  of  the  Central  and  Union  Pa- 
cific lines  a  few  began  coming  to  spend  the  winter  just  as  the  many  went 
to  Florida.  For  a  long  time  the  impression  among  them  was  that  they 
must  flee  as  a  matter  of  course  at  the  opening  of  the  spring,  just  as  they 
would  from  Florida.  San  Diego  from  its  first  start  had  a  few  of  these. 
In  the  winter  of  1875-76  for  a  few  weeks  the  Horton  House  and  all 
the  adjacent  lodging-rooms  around  the  plaza  were  full  and  a  large  and 
fashionable  boarding-house  kept  by  J.  O.  Miner  on  the  Cajon  had  at 
one  time  some  twenty-five  guests  at  twelve  dollars  a  week.  This  travel 
resulted  in  no  settlement  or  improvement  except  a  very  temporary  one 
in  the  pockets  of  hotel  and  livery  stable  keepers,  barbers,  saloons,  etc. 
But  in  Los  Angeles  and  San  Bernardino  Counties  there  was  a  decided 
difference.  The  early  de\'elopment  of  water  there  and  its  surprising 
results  captured  a  goodly  proportion  of  the  visitors,  many  of  whom 
bought  and  built,  while  the  fairest  portions  of  San  Diego,  for  lack  of 
water  development,  which  was  here  more  costly,  showed  nothing  of 
what  they  can  readily  do.  The  new  settlers  on  the  north  quickly  dis- 
covered that  instead  of  paying  a  high  price  in  summer  for  the  luxur}- 
of  the  winters  they  had  actually  gained  quite  as  much  by  the  change 
from  the  Eastern  summer  as  by  the  change  from  the  Eastern  winter. 
A  remarkable  feature  of  the  whole  was  that  though  few,  if  any,  of  the 
fine  vineyards  or  orchards  or  beautiful  places  paid  anything  on  the  in- 
vestment, and  most  of  them,  owing  to  the  lack  of  transportation  to 
market,  were  a  dead  loss,  yet  the  owners  were  perfectly  satisfied.  Not 
one  in  fifty  could  be  driven  out  of  Southern  California.  If  anyone  wished 
to  sell  it  was  only  to  get  money  to  buy  another  place  with,  and  for 
everyone  who  wanted  to  sell  a  dozen  were  ready  to  buy.  There  the 
lands  commanded  a  price  which  purchasers  with  eyes  wide  open  plainly 
saw  was  far  too  great,  if  values  are  to  be  measured  by  the  interest  that 
can  be  made  from  the  land.  There  w^as  then  for  lack  of  transportation 
little  prospect  that  it  ever  would  pay  full  interest  on  the  investment. 
Yet  they  bought  and  improved  and  the  faster  prices  rose  the  more  nu- 
merous and  eager  became  the  buyers.  It  was  plain  that  they  were  in 
fact  buying  comfort,  immimity  from  snow  and  slush,  from  piercing  winds 
and  sleet-clad  streets,  from  sultry  days  and  sleepless  nights,  from  thun- 


THE  A  1 1  'AKJ'hXrNG.  27 

der-storms,  cyclones,  malaria,  mosquitoes,  and  bed-bugs.  All  of  which, 
in  plain  language,  means  that  they  were  buying  climate,  a  business  that 
has  now  been  going  on  for  fifteen  years  and  reached  a  stage  of  progress 
which  the  world  has  never  seen  before  and  of  which  no  wisdom  can 
forsee  the  end.  The  proportion  of  invalids  among  these  settlers  was 
\-ery  great  at  first;  but  the  numbers  of  those  in  no  sense  invalids  but 
merely  sick  of  bad  weather,  determined  to  endure  no  more  of  it,  and 
able  to  pay  for  good  weather,  increased  so  fast  that  by  1S80  not  one  in 
twenty  of  the  new  settlers  could  be  called  an  inwalid.  They  were  simply 
rich  refugees. 

In  1880  the  rich  refugee  had  become  such  a  feature  in  the  land  and 
increasing  so  fast  in  numbers  that  Los  Angeles  and  San  Bernardino 
Counties  began  to  feel  a  decided  "boom."  From  1880  to  1885  Los 
Angeles  City  grew  from  about  twelve  thousand  to  thirty  thousand,  and 
both  counties  more  than  doubled  their  population.  But  all  this  time 
San  Diego  was  about  as  completely  fenced  out  by  a  system  of  misrep- 
resentation as  it  was  by  its  isolation  before  the  building  of  the  railroad. 
Much  of  this  misrepresentation  was  simply  well-meaning  ignorance;  but 
the  most  of  it  was— pure,  straight  lying  so  universal  from  fhe  editor  to 
the  brakeman  on  the  cars  and  the  bootblack  on  the  street  that  it  seemed 
to  be  a  regularly  organized  plan.  So  thorough  was  its  effect  that  at  the 
■opening  of  1885  San  Diego  had  felt  scarcely  any  of  the  great  prosperity 
under  full  headway  only  a  hundred  miles  north. 

But  when  the  extension  of  the  railroad  to  Barstow  was  begun  and 
recognized  as  a  mo\'ement  of  the  Santa  Fe  railway  system  to  make  its 
terminus  on  San  Diego  Bay,  the  rich  refugee  determined  to  come  down 
and  see  whether  a  great  railroad  was  foolish  enough  to  cross  himdreds 
of  miles  of  desert  for  the  sake  of  making  a  terminus  in  another  desert. 
He  came  and  found  that  though  the  country  along  the  coast  in  its  un- 
irrigated  state  was  not  as  in\'iting  as  the  irrigated  lands  of  Los  Angeles 
and  San  Bernardino,  there  yet  was  plenty  of  water  in  the  interior  that 
could  be  brought  upon  it.  He  found  there  was  plenty  of  "back 
country"  as  rich  as  any  around  Los  Angeles,  only  it  was  more  out  of 
sight  behind  hills  and  table-lands,  and  less  concentrated  than  in  the  next 
two  counties  above.  He  found  a  large  and  beautiful  bay  surrounded  by 
thousands  and  thousands  of  acres  of  fine  rich  slopes  and  table-U.nds, 
abounding  in  the  most  picturesque  building  sites  on  earth.  He  found  a 
climate  made,  by  its  more  southern  latitude  and  inward  sweep  of  the 
coast,  far  superior  to  that  of  a  hundred  miles  north,  and  far  better 
adapted  to  the  lemon,  orange,  and  other  fine  fruits.  He  found  the  only 
harbor  on  the  Pacific  Coast*  south  of  San  Francisco;  a  harbor  to  which 
the  proud  Los  Angeles  herself  would  soon  look  for  most  of  her  supplies 
by  sea;  one  which  shortens  bv  several  hundred  miles  the  distance  from 
the  lands  of  the  setting  sun  to  New  York;  a  harbor  which  the  largest 


28  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

merchant  vessels  can  enter  in  the  hea\'iest  storm  and  he  at  rest  without 
dragging  an  anchor  or  chafing  ])aint  on  a  whart. 

The  growth  of  San  Diego  now  began  in  earnest,  and  by  the  end  of 
1885  its  future  was  plainly  assured.  A  very  few  who  predicted  a  popu- 
lation of  fifty  thousand  in  five  years  were  looked  upon  as  wild,  even  by 
those  who  believed  most  firmly  in  its  future.  Even  those  who  best 
knew  the  amount  of  land  behind  it  and  the  great  water  resources  of  its 
high  mountains  in  the  interior  believed  that  twenty-five  thousand  in  five 
years  would  be  doing  well  enough.  Its  growth  since  that  time  has  ex- 
ceeded fondest  hope.  It  is  in  truth  a  surprise  to  all  and  no  one  can 
truthfully  pride  himself  upon  superior  sagacity,  however  well  founded 
his  expectations  for  the  future  may  be.  At  the  close  of  1885  it  had 
probably  about  five  thousand  people.  At  the  close  of  1887,  the  time 
of  writing  this  sketch,  it  has  fully  thirty  thousand  with  a  more  rapid 
rate  of  increase  than  ever.  New  stores,  hotels  and  dwellings  are  arising 
on  every  hand  from  the  center  to  the  farthest  outskirts  in  more  bewild- 
ering numbers  than  before,  and  people  are  pouring  in  at  double  the 
rate  they  did  but  six  months  ago.  It  is  now  impossible  to  keep  track 
of  its  progress.  No  one  seems  any  longer  to  know  or  care  who  is 
putting  up  the  big  buildings,  and  it  is  becoming  difficult  to  find  a  famil- 
iar face  in  the  crowd  or  at  the  hotels. 

It  may  well  be  doubted  if  any  city  has  ever  before  had   such  a 
growth  of  the  same  character.     Mushroom  towns  there  have  been  of 
course.     Mines  and  railroads  have  built  up  some  towns  with  great  speed. 
But  the  buildings,  the  improvementii  and  the  people  have  all  shown  that 
it  was  but  a  temporary  gathering  liable  to  dissolve  at  any  time. 

Not  so  with  San  Diego.  The  hundreds  of  costly  residences,  the 
thousands  of  less  expensive  but  still  luxurious  homes,  the  scores  of 
solid  business  blocks,  the  great  wharves,  machine  shops,  and  ware- 
houses, the  miles  of  street  railway,  water  and  gas  pipes,  tell  of  a  dififer- 
ent  class  of  people  from  those  that  settle  ephemeral  towns.  The  electric 
lights,  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  spent  in  grading  the  streets, 
cutting  down  hills  and  filling  up  low  ground,  the  perfect  system  of  glazed- 
pipe  sewers  costing  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  indicate  a  people 
■  who  are  not  building  for  to-day.  The  shipping  in  the  harbor,  the 
millions  of  feet  of  lumber  landed  every  week,  the  loaded  wagons  and 
cars  that  daily  .start  for  the  interior,  have  no  temporary  look  about  them. 
The  number  of  the  new  residents  who  are  very  wealthy  is  certainly  such 
as  no  new  city  ever  before  received  in  so  short  a  time. 

The  whole  bay  region  of  which  San  Diego  is  the  center  is  enjoying 
to  a  great  extent  the  same  prosperity  and  settling  with  the  same  class  of 
people.  Some  forty  miles  of  steam-dummy  road  now  run  in  various  di- 
rections around  it  and  extensions  of  fully  forty  more  are  under  construc- 
tion.    An  electric  road  is  now  running  to  the  farthest  end  of  University 


THE  A  WAKENING.  29 

Heights  and  will  have  miles  oi  branches;  while  a  cable-road  is  about  to 
climb  the  table-lands  far  out  into  the  outskirts.  The  fine  lands  about 
National  City  are  fast  being  covered  with  fine  residences  and  the  new 
water  works,  costing  over  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  now  com- 
plete, will  hasten  its  progress.  Coronado  Beach  has  reached  a  stage  of 
development  that  few  ever  dreamed  of  seeing,  yet  Pacific  Beach,  a 
few  miles  above  it,  is  already  close  upon  its  heels  with  great  and  crjsth' 
improvements,  and  the  first  day's  sales  of  lots  there  amounted  to  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Three  things  now  appear  certain: — 

First,  that  the  San  Diego  Bay  region  is,  for  a  certain  ciass  of 
people,  the  most  desirable  residence  on  earth. 

Second,  that  it  is  to  be  the  greatest  summer  resort  as  well  as  the 
greatest  winter  resort  on  either  coast  of  America. 

Third,  that  it  is  to  be  the  harbor  and  distributing  point  not  only  for 
its  own  interior.  Lower  California,  which,  under  the  work  of  the  Inter- 
national Company  of  Mexico  is  now  fast  settling,  but  for  San  Bernar- 
dino County,  and  also  for  Los  Angeles  as  soon  as  the  short  line  of  the 
Santa  Fe,  now  graded  to  Santa  Ana,  is  done. 

The  whirligig  of  time  brings  in  its  revenges  but  it  is  surely  a  strange 
freak  of  the  wheel  that  turns  into  San  Diego's  back  country  the  two 
counties  that  ha\e  so  long  retarded  her  growth  by  the  oft-rej^eated 
story  that  she  had  ' '  no  back  country. ' '  Yet  the  great  Maker  of  har- 
bors has  so  decreed. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


THE  BAY  REGION. 


^AN  DIEGO  BAY  is  the  only  harbor  in  California  south 
of  San  Francisco.     There  are  several  roadsteads,  fondly 


called  harbo7-s  by  the  dwellers  on  the  shore,  where  a  ves- 
sel may  anchor  in  foir  weather,  and  discharge  by  lighters. 
But  by  the  word  harbor,  the  great  world  means  a  place 
that  a  vessel  can  enter  with  safety,  tie  up  at  a  wharf  and 
?  1?J£t^<  discharge  her  crew.  A  place  where  vessels  have  to  hold 
(yj    '5\  themselves  ready  to  put  to  sea  at  any  moment  for  safety 

C^'  cannot  be  made  a  harbor  by  any  stretch  of  fancy  or  Gov- 

ernment funds.  San  Diego  bar  has  twenty-three  feet  of  water  at  low 
tide,  and  is  so  smooth  that  the  largest  vessels  pass  over  it  during  the 
heaviest  storms  ever  known.  During  the  great  storm  of  February, 
1878,  when  the  wind  reached  the  highest  point  ever  registered  by  the 
signal  service  at  San  Diego,  the  Hassler,  a  large  steamer  of  the  United 
States  coast  survey,  lay  during  the  whole  storm  directly  upon  the  bar, 
taking  soundings  and  surveying  the  harbor.  During  that  same  storm 
the  coast  line  steamer  Orizaba  had  to  pass  every  stopping- place  between 
San  Diego  and  San  Francisco,  and  lie  off  San  Francisco  three  days  be- 
fore daring  to  cross  its  bar.  At  San  Diego  is  often  seen  what  is  a  rare 
sight  at  any  seaport  in  the  world,  a  full-rigged  ship  of  the  largest  size 
entering  under  full  sail,  sailing  all  the  way  up  the  channel,  turning 
around  and  sailing  up  to  the  wharf — all  done  without  a  harbor  pilot  or 
steam  tug.  And  this  is  dooe  too  by  foreign  vessels,  whose  pilots  have 
never  before  entered  the  bay. 

The  bay  of  San  Diego  is  about  twelve  miles  long,  and  from  one 
mile  to  two  and  a  half  miles  broad,  with  abundance  of  deep  water  for 
thousands  of  vessels.  It  has  miles  of  good  wharfage  front,  completely 
landlocked  and  sheltered.  The  report  of  the  United  States  coast  survey 
furnishes  the  most  incontestable  proof  of  all  these  facts,  as  well  as  much 
other  interesting  information  about  it.  It  is  certain  to  be  not  only  the 
principal  port  of  Southern  California,  but  will  be  the  Pacific  port  of  a 
line  of  steamers  to  China,  Australia  and  Japan,  being  some  five  hun- 
dred miles  nearer  than  San  Francisco.  The  completion  of  any  of  the 
(30) 


d 


II 


THE  BA  Y  REGION.  31 

canal  or  shij)  railroad  schemes  on  the  Isthmus  will  also  be  certain  to  se- 
cure it  a  large  commerce. 

Surrounding  this  bay  are  miles  upon  miles  of  slope  and  table-land 
of  fine  quality  lying  in  almost  perfect  shape  for  town  sites,  \'illas,  and 
ornamental  places,  where  beauty  and  profit  may  go  hand  in  hand. 

Next  in  size  to  San  Diego  is  National  City,  four  miles  farther  up  the 
bay,  also  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  new  prosperity.  It,  too,  has  a 
long  and  excellent  water  front,  with  plenty  of  wharf  room  in  deep 
water.  It  is  the  terminus  of  the  railroad,  and  has  all  the  railroad  shops, 
stores,  and  general  offices.  Its  present  population,  including  suburban 
places  on  the  adjoining  slopes  and  in  the  neighboring  valleys,  is  about 
three  thousand,  which  is  rapidly  increasing.  It  is  situated  upon  the 
National  Rancho,  one  of  the  most  valuable  ranches  in  the  county.  To 
the  wise  liberality  of  the  owners  in  giving  about  seventeen  thousand 
acres  of  the  choicest  part  of  this  tract  to  the  railroad,  San  Diego  County 
is  indebted  for  getting  it  much  sooner  than  it  would  otherwise  have 
come.  From  the  National  Rancho  have  come  most  of  the  choicest 
products,  that.hax'e  shown  what  the  county  can  do;  the  lemons  that  ha\'e 
captured  all  the  premiums  at  the  fairs  of  Riverside  and  Los  Angeles; 
the  oranges  that  took  the  premiums  at  New  Orleans  over  the  best  of 
Florida;  while  its  raisins,  olives,  and  deciduous  fruits  are  surpassed  by 
none  in  the  State. 

The  area  of  choice  land  surrounding  National  City,  sweeps  around 
the  southeast  side  of  the  bay  to  the  Mexican  line  in  almost  unbroken 
slope  toward  the  water,  terminating  on  the  east  in  the  high  rollinj^  Otay 
mesa,  containing  some  five  thousand  acres  of  fine  land;  on  the  south  in 
the  rich  valley  of  the  Tia  Juana  Ri\'er,  and  on  the  ocean  side  in  a  large 
alluvial  tract  of  rich,  warm  soil,  forming  the  upper  end  of  the  peninsula 
that  forms  the  bay,  part  of  which  is  now  known  as  Coronado  Heights. 
On  this  are  also  situated  the  new  towns  of  Oneonta  and  South  San 
Diego.  This  peninsula  then  runs  northward  for  several  miles  in  a  long 
strip  that  shuts  out  the  sea  completely.  Opposite  the  city  of  San 
Diego,  it  widens  out  into  a  large  tract  of  about  twenty-fi\e  hundred 
acres,  almost  divided  by  an  arm  of  the  bay  called  Spanish  Bight. 
Upon  the  southern  division  of  this,  containing  some  eleven  hundred 
acres,  and  over  a  mile  in  its  narrowest  diameter,  a  remarkable  improve- 
ment is  now  almost  complete.  Within  two  years,  nearly  a  million  and 
a  half  of  dollars  have  been  expended  in  preparing  this  for  residence. 
The  whole  has  been  cleared  of  the  nati\e  \'egetation,  laid  out  and 
mapped,  and  water  piped  across  the  bay.  A  large  steam  ferry  connects 
it  with  the  main-land;  a  steam  motor  road  carries  the  \-isitor  across  it  in 
a  few  moments,  where  bath-houses  are  so  arranged  that  he  may  bathe 
winter  or  summer,  either  in  the  surf  or  the  bay,  at  his  pleasure.  A 
$1,000,000  hotel,  first-class  in  e\ery  respect,  and  lighted  by  electricity, 


32  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

has  just  been  built,  waterworks  and  a  perfect  system  of  small  pipe 
sewers  are  complete,  everything'  needed  for  comfort  or  convenience,  for 
either  resident  or  traveler,  is  being  provided  as  fast  as  money  can  do  it; 
and  Coronado  Beach  will  soon  be  known  as  the  most  remarkable  water- 
ing-place in  America,  if  not  in  the  world.  There  have  been  $2,600,000 
worth  of  lots  sold  here  within  a  year. 

The  high  promontory  on  the  north,  known  as  Point  Loma,  runs 
out  into  the  sea,  sheltering  the  bay  from  the  western  winds,  has  abun- 
dance of  good  land  upon  its  slopes  and  top,  but  is  as  yet  but  slightly 
settled,  though  a  town  called  Roseville  has  been  laid  out  in  a  very  at- 
tractive and  sheltered  portion  of  it.  When  water  is  piped  to  it,  and  the 
street  railroad  now  in  progress  reaches  it,  the  southern  slopes  of  this 
promontory  will  make  fine  residence  property  and  be  in  high  demand. 
Just  beyond  where  Point  Loma  joins  the  main-land,  lies  Old  Town. 
From  here  the  land  widens  and  slopes  more  gently  away  from  the  bay 
until  it  spreads  out  into  San  Diego  proper. 

Old  Town  is  now  connected  with  San  Diego  by  a  steam  motor 
railroad,  which  will  be  extended  to  Roseville  and  along  the  north  shore 
of  the  bay.  This  will  make  a  continuous  line  of  horse  and  steam 
motor  railroad  around  the  bay.  Within  some  twelve  miles  of  the  bay, 
on  the  north,  south,  and  east,  there  are  fully  one  hundred  thousand 
acres  of  arable  table-land  or  mesa,  most  of  which  will  in  a  few  years  be 
irrigated  in  the  ways  hereinafter  mentioned.  A  little  beyond  Old  Town 
is  the  new  and  beautiful  suburb  known  as  Pacific  Beach,  with  the  new 
villa  sites  of  Morena  lying  midway  between.  Pacific  Beach  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  company  bent  on  making  it  rival  even  Coronado.  A  stupendous 
hotel,  a  fine  college,  electric  lights,  bath-houses,  street  railroads,  and 
all  else  needed  to  make  it  attractive,  are  under  way  to  be  completed  as 
fast  as  money  can  complete  them.  A  few  miles  farther  up  the  shore  is 
La  Jolla  Park,  a  very  picturesque  spot.  And  on  the  western  slope  of 
the  northern  side  of  Point  Loma  lies  Ocean  Beach,  also  a  new  and  at- 
tractive watering-place. 

From  all  the  shores  and  table-lands  around  the  bay,  a  wide  and 
varied  prospect  opens  upon  one,  but  the  best  is  from  the  highlands  of 
Point  Loma  back  of  Roseville.  There  the  great  ocean,  its  smooth 
face  unmarred  except  by  the  high,  rocky  ridges  of  the  Coronado 
Islands,  thirty  miles  away,  seems  almost  to  embrace  one,  stretching  so 
far  and  so  vast,  north,  south,  and  west,  with  the  bright  waters  of  False 
Bay  running  around  one  on  the  north,  and  San  Diego  Bay  reaching  far 
inland  on  the  south.  For  miles  the  placid  face  of  San  Diego  Bay  lies 
shining  in  the  bright  sunlight,  broken  here  and  there  by  a  wharf,  ship, 
or  sail-boat,  the  plunge  of  the  pelican  or  rolling  of  porpoises.  Along 
the  inner  shore  lie  the  two  cities,  fast  spreading  toward  one  another  in 
a  line  of  houses,  and  far  away  in  the  south  can  be  seen  the  line  of  set- 


THE  BA  Y  REGION. 


.33 


tlenients  in  the  Otay  and  Tia  Juana  X'allcys.  0\cr  tlic  table-lands  that 
slope  from  the  bay,  chains  of  lofty  hills  rise  tier  after  tier,  looking-  down 
upon  the  vast  ocean  up  to  the  high,  pine-clad  lines  of  the  distant  mountains 
that  bound  the  great  desert.  High,  rocky  spurs  studded  with  bowlders, 
towering  peaks  of  bare  gray  granite,  soft,  grassy  slopes  and  timbered 
highlands  roll  away  skyward  into  lofty  ridges  clad  in  cedar  and  oak. 
On  the  south,  far  away  into  Mexico,  the  whole  dissolves  in  a  hazy  mist 
from  which  rise  in  long  blue  waves  the  outlines  of  its  high  mountains 
and  table-lands.  On  the  north,  over  one  hundred  miles  away,  lie  the 
great,  snowy  tops  of  the  San  Bernardino  Mountains,  and  a  little  to  the 
east  of  them  the  yellow  sides  of  Palomar  swell  a  mile  skyward  into  a 
long  blue  line  of  timber.  And  over  it  all  lies  an  almost  eternal  sunshine, 
unbroken  often  for  weeks  by  the  faintest  cloud,  and  over  it  ever  plays  a 
gentle  breeze  that  never  fails  to  fan  one,  yet  never  loses  its  temper. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


is  generally  sand, 
nations  beneath; 


THE  INTERIOR. 

«HE  general  character  of  all  the  coast  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia is  about  the  same,  a  long  line  of  table-lands, 
more  or  less  wavy  and  sloping  away  from  the  sea, 
more  or  less  cut  with  valleys,  ravines,  creeks,  or  rivers, 
or  interrupted  by  some  range  of  low  hills.  This  table- 
land, or  mesa,  as  it  is  generally  called  from  the  Spanish 
for  table,  is  the  part  of  the  country  which  was  last 
lifted  from  the  sea,  and  in  the  deeper  valleys  there  is 
still  some  salt  and  alkali,  though  the  slopes  and  top  of 
the  mesa  proper  are  very  free  from  it.  The  formation 
gravel,  bowlder,  clay,  and  silt  in  all  sorts  of  alter- 
but  the  top  soil  is  nearly  always  of  fine  gray  or 
red  granite,  sometimes  both,  though  sometimes  an  adobe,  which 
again  is  often  mixed  with  fine  granite.  These  mesas  reach  from  five  to 
twelve  or  fifteen  miles  from  the  coast,  and  are  often  found  far  in  the 
interior  as  benches  around  some  broad  valley  or  plain.  Where  irrigable 
they  command  the  highest  price  of  all  lands.  Their  value  is  generally 
dependent  upon  their  elevation  above  the  valleys  or  sea,  the  higher 
ones  being  generally  more  desired,  and  their  value,  not  only  for  resi- 
dences, but  for  fruit-growing,  is  constantly  rising. 

Over  such  a  table-land  you  pass  for  some  twelve  miles  in  going 
from  San  Diego  to  the  interior.  Some  of  it  looks  hard  and  sterile,  but 
nearly  all  of  it  is  good  land,  needing  only  good  plowing  to  equal  the 
best  valley  land.  Its  climate,  free  by  its  elevation  from  frosts  in 
winter  nights,  is  tempered  by  the  coast  breezes  from  the  heat  of  sum- 
mer noons.  Yet  most  of  it  is  far  enough  from  the  coast  to  be  free  from 
the  freshness  of  the  sea,  and  is  lifted  to  a  point  that  gives  a  grand,  far- 
reaching  view  of  ocean  and  mountain.  This  mesa  reaches  far  away  to 
the  north,  broken  by  the  canon  of  the  San  Diego  River,  and  far  away 
into  the  south  to  the  Mexican  line,  broken  by  the  Sweetwater  and  Otay 
Valleys. 

Some  twelve  miles  back  of  San    Diego,  this  mesa  falls  suddenly  off 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  into  a  broad  valley  called   El   Cajon. 
In  and  around  this  valley  and  its  connections  are  some  twenty  thousand 
(34) 


7y//i   INTERIOR.  35 

acres  of  fine  rich  land.  The  valley  land  proper  is  well  suited  to  the 
raisin  grape,  and  Cajon  raisins  ha\'e  within  four  years  won  an  almost 
national  reputation,  and  shown  what  the  county  can  do.  Around  the 
main  valley  and  its  branches  are  thousands  of  acres  of  slope  and  small 
mesa,  which  are  as  fine  orange  and  lemon  lands  as  can  be  found,  and 
unexcelled  for  residence  property.  El  Cajon  has  a  population  of  nearly 
three  hundred  and  is  rapidly  growing. 

Having  seen  El  Cajon,  the  average  tourist  thinks  he  has  seen  the 
whole  county;  for  the  girdle  of  high,  rugged  hills  by  which  it  is  embraced 
gives  little  indication  of  anything  around  or  beyond  it,  yet  valleys  of 
various  sizes  lie  just  o\'er  the  hills  on  all  sides,  with  small  mesas  or 
slopes  leading  up  to  the  higher  hills.  Six  miles  up  a  winding  mountain 
road  brings  us  to  another  broad  valley  of  some  fifteen  thousand  acres  of 
fine  plain  and  slope,  twelve  hundred  feet  above  El  Cajon,  which  averages 
only  four  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  This  is  the  Santa  Maria,  an  old 
Spanish  grant.  Here  again  the  land  breaks  on  the  sides  into  hills,  some 
quite  smooth  and  rolling,  others  high,  sharp,  and  heavily  studded  with 
bowlders.  You  notice  that  the  roads  show  plenty  of  travel,  but  you  see 
few  people  or  houses,  or  cultivated  farms;  a  feature  you  may  note  all 
over  the  county.  This  is  because  the  large  grants  are  as  yet  quite  unset- 
tled, many  of  them  being  still  closed  to  settlement,  while  most  of  those 
that  are  open  have  been  upon  the  market  but  a  few  months.  The  land 
is,  however,  being  fast  taken  up,  as  you  see  here  and  as  you  saw  in  El 
Cajon,  but  the  great  majority  of  the  settlers  are  on  Government  land 
around  these  large  grants.  As  remarked  before,  these  dark  chaparral - 
clad  hills  or  bowjder-studded  ridges  that  seem  to  bound  all  that  is  tillable, 
are  full  of  pockets,  little  valleys  and  parks  in  every  direction,  and  in  the 
girdle  of  hills  around  this  one  valley  are  stowed  away  over  fifty  farms 
whose  presence  one  would  never  suspect,  while  just  over  the  ridge  on 
the  right  are  about  four  thousand  acres  of  fine  j)low  land,  between  us 
and  the  tall  mountain  of  granite  that  seems  so  near, — the  rancho  San 
Vicente. 

Here  you  begin  to  see  more  timber  than  pn  the  lower  le\-els.  The 
hills  and  slopes  around  this  valley  once  abounded  with  great  live  oaks, 
but  fire  and  the  ax  have  swept  away  the  most  of  them.  But  you  can 
see  a  great  change  in  the  general  appearance  of  the  country.  In  almost 
everyone  of  the  larger  ravines,  and  on  the  larger  hill-sides,  you  may  now 
find  living  springs,  which  you  could  not  do  along  the  coast.  Everythino- 
indicates  a  land  of  much  more  rain  than  you  have  yet  seen.  And  such 
is  the  fact,  this  valley  being  upon  the  second  rain-belt  of  the  countv, 
where  the  winter  rains  are  always  ample  for  full  crops.  The  new  town 
Ramona  lies  near  its  eastern  edge,  in  a  fine  location. 

Leaving  the  Santa  Maria  by  the  Julian  road,  you  pass  through  a 
series  of  smaller  valleys,    constantly  rising  one  above  another.      Here 


36  CITY  AND  COUNrV  OF  SAN  DIEdO. 

you  find  running'  water  in  all  the  littk-  brooks,  timber  increasing,  and 
farms  more  like  Eastern  farms  than  you  have  yet  seen;  in  short,  ev.i- 
dcnces  of  more  rain  e\en  than  in  Santa  Maria.  Soon  the  road  runs  into 
a  kirger  valley  of  about  two  thousand  acres  including  sloi)es  and  all. 
This  is  known  as  Ballena,  and  is  the  center  of  quite  a  settlement  of 
some  si.x  thousand  acres,  of  which,  as  before,  the  surrounding  hills  show 
no  sign.  It  is  twenty-h\'e  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  and  about  one 
thousand  feet  above  the  Santa  Maria.  Still  up  we  go,  passing  again 
through  small  valleys,  and  among  hills  in  whose  hidden  pockets  whole 
farms  may  be  stowed  away,  until  at  an  elevation  of  three  thousand  feet 
we  come  into  the  valley  of  the  Rancho  Santa  Ysabel.  This  is  the  cen- 
tral valley  of  the  rancho,  containing,  wnth  its  branches  and  slopes,  some 
four  thousand  acres  of  fine  land,  but  used  with  the  adjoining  hills  only 
for  stock  range,  dairy,  and  cheese-making.  Here  are  still  more  evi- 
dences of  a  heavy  rainfall.  Springs  are  on  almost  every  hill-side,  little 
streams  in  e\'ery  ravine,  while  nearly  across  the  center  runs  a  creek  that 
in  the  driest  time  of  the  year  runs  a  large  stream  of  the  purest  water. 
All  these  surrounding  hills,  like  the  main  valley,  are  splendid  stock  range, 
affording  abundance  of  feed.  In  fact,  the  \'ery  best  feed  is  in  those  bad 
years  when  the  winter  rains  along  the  coast  have  been  little  but  light 
storms  of  drizzling  mist.  Yet  scarce  anything  would  appear  less  fit  for 
general  farming.  It  will  be  worth  your  while,  however,  to  spend  a  whole 
day  on  that  range  of  high  rolling  hills  on  the  northwest  dotted  with  live 
oak  timber,  and  yellow  with  ripe  wild  oats  and  grass. 

Up  a  long  grade  the  road  winds,  until  some  five  hundred  feet  above 
the  main  valley  you  reach  a  broad  tract  of  several  miles  in  width,  rolling 
and  tumbling  in  great  swells  of  alternate  hill  and  valley  from  thirty-five 
hundred  to  forty-five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  Part  of  this  belongs 
to  the  Rancho  Santa  Ysabel,  and  is  still  held  in  stock  range,  but  beyond 
the  rancho  line  on  the  Government  land  you  will  find  some  thirty  farms. 
This  tract  is  called  Mesa  Grande,  and  contains  some  six  thousand  acres 
of  splendid  j^knv  land.  Here  too  you  find  plenty  of  springs  and  run- 
ning brooks.  The  farms  are  still  more  like  Eastern  farms  than  those  of 
Ballena,  a  scarcity  of  rain  is  unknown,  all  crops  and  fruits  are  a  cer- 
tainty, and  the  farmers  have  no  anxiety  except  the  fear  of  too  much 
rain.  The  whole  now  looks  like  an  eastern  country  with  no  resemblance 
whatever  to  the  land  thirty  miles  west,  and  three  thousand  feet  below  us; 
the  country  from  which  nearly  all  impressions  of  San  Diego  County  are 
taken. 

A  glance  at  the  distant  sea  shows  that  we  are  well  up  in  the  world, 
but  almost  as  high  again  in  the  east  loom  rolling  slopes,  covered  with 
grass  and  timber  like  those  of  Mesa  Grande,  and  topped  by  dark,  pine- 
clad  hills.  You  ha\'e  already  seen  enough  of  what  hills  may  contain  to 
warn  you  against  assuming,  that  you  have  reached  the  limits  of  settle- 
ment.    Those  hills  too  are  worth  inspection. 


'Jill-:   IX'l'liRlOR. 


37 


Crossing  again  the  main  valley  of  Santa  Ysabel  we  take  the  road  to 
Julian,  and  again  our  way  leads  upward.  Through  a  few  miles  <jf 
tumbling  hills  containing  abundance  of  grass,  but  otherwise  of  little  use, 
we  go  where  the  land  again  opens  into  valleys  and  slopes  covered  with 
rank  grass  and  scattered  timber.  The  proportion  of  arable  land  is 
much  greater  than  before,  farms  open  upon  every  hand,  but,  as  before, 
dozens  more  are  hidden  by  inter\'ening  ridges.  High  hills,  yellow  with 
dried  grass,  and  higher  ones  blue  with  timber,  still  rise  ahead,  and  soon 
we  roll  into  the  little  town  of  Julian,  forty-two  hundred  feet  above  the 
sea.  In  and  around  the  Julian  region  are  some  twenty  thousand  acres 
of  tillable  land,  though  most  of  it  is  i)artly  covered  by  timber.  The 
population  of  the  town  and  immediate  surroundings  is  about  si.x  hun- 
dred. Taking  the  short  cut  known  as  "  Tally's  road,"  from  hereto 
the  Cuyamaca  Rancho,  we  soon  enter  denser  timber  growing  on  gently 
rolling  slopes,  broken  at  intervals  by  open  meadows  clad  in  deep  grass. 
Here  you  notice  in  abundance  a  new  oak,  much  like  the  Eastern  red 
oak,  though  this  first  appears  as  low  down  as  thirty-five  hundred  feet. 
You  also  find  an  entirely  new  live  oak,  stately  and  shining,  with  trunk  and 
bark  much  like  the  Eastern  white  oak.  This  is  the  mountain  variety  of 
the  white  li\'e  oak  )-ou  have  seen  lower  down,  which  now  disappears. 
Through  some  miles  of  oak  timber,  mixed  with  an  occasional  pine,  we 
ride  until  the  road  suddenly  runs  out  into  a  broad  open  flat  of  several 
thousand  acres,  part  of  the  Cuyamaca  Rancho.  At  the  lower  end  of 
this  is  one  of  the  reservoirs  of  the  San  Diego  Hume  Co. ,  covering  about 
one  thousand  acres  with  a  dam  thirty-five  feet  high.  On  the  east  the 
timber  now  disappears,  but  on  the  west  it  bristles  darker,  taller,  and 
denser  on  the  three  tall  peaks  that  rise  from  fifteen  hundred  to  two 
thousand  feet  above  us,  the  elexation  of  this  flat  being  about  fort^•-six 
hundred  feet  above  tide  water.  (3nce  here  it  will  well  repay  the  trouble 
to  climb  the  tallest  of  these  peaks,  it  being  very  easily  ascended.  A 
wagon  may  be  driven  to  within  a  thousand  feet  or  so  of  the  top.  The 
road  winds  through  rich  meadows,  and  then  through  timber  until  vou 
reach  the  "  cold  spring."  a  spring  flowing  about  one  hundred  gallons  a 
minute  of  the  purest  and  coldest  water.  From  here  the  way  to  the  top 
on  foot  is  quite  easy.  As  you  ascend,  the  common  live  oak  of  the  low- 
lands disappears  and  only  the  red  oak  and  white  live  oak  are  left.  The 
"bull  pine."  whose  massive  trunks  have  hitherto  lined  our  path,  begins 
to  disappear,  and  sugar  ]:)ines  as  large  as  six  feet  in  diameter  take  its 
place.  The  silver  fir  and  the  cetlar.  l)right,  stately  trees  with  tall,  trim 
trunks,  also  appear  in  abundance,  forming  in  most  places  an  almost 
solid  shade.  The  extreme  top  is  a  pile  of  rocks,  the  highest  point  but 
one  in  the  whole  county  and  sixty-five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea. 
From  here  on  a  clear  day  one  can  see  with  a  glass  the  greater  part  of 
the  southern  half  of  the  county,  and  can  learn  better  than  in  any  other 
way  the  conditions  of  its  peculiar  climate. 


38  CITY  AX D  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

But  a  iew  miles  Irom  us  on  the  east,  the  land  falls  ofif  fi\'e  thousand 
feet  into  the  Colorado  Desert,  a  sea  of  fiery  sand  broiling  beneath  an 
almost  eternal  sun,  ajiparently  as  vast  and  le\  el  as  the  great  shimmer- 
ing plain  of  Avater  fifty  miles  to  the  west.  A  hundred  miles  away  the 
snowy  scalp  of  Grayhack  of  the  San  Bernardino  range  lies  like  a  cloud 
two  miles  in  the  northern  sky  with  San  Jacinto,  but  a  trifle  lower  beside 
it;  while  between  them  and  us  runs  the  long,  lofty  chain  of  blue  and 
gray  mountains  that  separate  the  western  part  of  San  Diego  County 
from  the  great  desert.  Away  on  the  south  the  range  continues  dark 
with  pine,  green  with  oak,  or  bluish  with  chaparral  until  lost  in  the 
hazy  outlines  of  the  highlands  of  Mexico.  From  here  you  can  look 
,down  on  hundreds  of  rolling  slopes,  golden  with  dry  grass,  wild  oats',  or 
Istubble,  or  covered  with  scattered  oaks  like  some  old  Eastern  apple 
orchard;  on  hundreds  of  little  valleys  and  parks,  with  little  farms  nestled 
in  them ;  on  larger  plains,  yellow  with  grass  or  stubble ;  on  deep  canons 
filled  with  eternal  shade,  but  having  plenty  of  good  land :  and  on  broad 
rolling  table-lands  covered  with  chaparral,  but  as  good  land  as  any. 
High  mountains  rise  in  all  directions;  some  broad-backed,  like  Volcan, 
just  beyond  Julian,  or  Palomar  still  farther  northwest,  both  almost  level 
with  our  feet,  and  crowned  with  forests,  breaking  away  in  long  ridges 
clad  with  grass  along  the  backs  and  sides,  with  dark,  timbered  gulches 
between.  Others  are  lower  and  clad  only  in  chaparral,  or  scattered 
trees,  like  the  great  granite  dome  El  Cajon,  or  Lyons  Peak.  And  both 
north  and  south,  the  whole  land  is  tumbling  and  tumbling  in  long- 
alternations  of  valley,  slope,  and  hill,  away  to  the  distant  sea.  And  now 
it  is  easy  to  see  how  so  little  is  known  of  the  county.  Unapproachable 
on  the  east  because  of  the  desert,  from  the  south  because  ho  American 
travel  comes  that  way,  only  the  coast  line  and  a  line  of  the  northern 
edge  can  be  seen  by  the  ordinary  traveler.  These  beautiful  timbered 
mountains,  and  the  long,  rich  slopes  that  lead  away  from  them,  and  the 
fine  valleys  hidden  among  them,  show  nothing  but  barrenness  from  the 
desert  side;  while  from  the  coast  they  look  by  distance  e\-en  more 
dreary  than  the  bare,  rocky  hills  of  the  coast  rain  belt.  The  desert  is,  of 
course,  uninhabitable,  as  is  that  of  San  Bernardino  County,  but  we  shall 
hereafter  see  it  is  worth  more  for  its  effect  on  climate  than  if  its  millions 
of  acres  of  burning  sand  were  Illinois  prairie ;  while  the  inhabitable 
part  of  the  county  is  a  long  slope  fifty  to  sixty  miles  wide,  rising  east- 
ward to  a  general  le\el  of  fi\'e  thousand  feet,  forming  a  rim  of  the  great 
basin  of  the  desert  five  thousand  feet  deep. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


THE  LOWER  COAST  DIVISION. 

'ASSING  directly  from  the  coast  to  the  hij^hest  tracts  of 
arable  land  in  the  county,  the  reader  will  now  be  pre- 
pared to  examine  it  intellig'ently  in  detail.  He  will  now 
understand  the  j^i^reat  difference  caused  by  increase  of 
elevation,  and  distance  from  the  coast;  how  the  good 
land  in  this  county  is  broken  and  scattered  into  a  thou- 
sand shapes;  how  a  greater  variety  of  climates  can  be 
found  here  than  in  any  other  county;  and  how  a  greater 
\ariety  of  productions  can  be  raised  in  perfection.  Ask 
any  one  of  the  old  stockmen  of  Los  Angeles  or  San  Bernardino  Coun- 
ties where  their  horses  and  cattle  were  sa\'ed  in  such  disastrous  years  as 
1864.  They  will  tell  you  it  was  not  to  their  own  mountains  that  they 
drove  them,  but  to  the  highlands  of  San  Diego.  The  reason  is  simple. 
In  those  counties  when  you  pass  an  elevation  of  lifteen  hundred  feet 
above  sea  level,  you  leave  below  you  about  all  the  good  land  there  is. 
Here,  at  that  elevation  you  just  reach  the  best,  that  is,  from  the  old 
standard  of  values, — a  standard  that  for  many  purposes  is  still  useful. 
This  county  has  ten  times  the  area  of  arable  land  lifted  into  a  region  of 
certain  and  abundant  rainfall,  that  both  those  counties  together  have; 
their  highlands  being  generally  quite  barren,  with  a  very  few  small 
mountain  valleys,  although  the  general  elevation  of  those  mountains  is 
much  higher  than  those  of  San  Diego  Countv. 

Nevertheless,  by  the  new  standard,  the  lower  lands  here  are  the 
more  valuable  for  some  purposes,  because  the  colder  winter  nights  of 
the  higher  levels  do  not  permit  the  raising  to  anv  extent  of  oranges, 
lemons,  and  other  delicate  fruits,  because  their  greater  rainfall  makes 
them  less  desirable  for  the  in\-alid,  and  because  they  are  less  easy  of 
access.  We  will  examine  first  the  sections  nearer  the  coast,  returning 
to  these  highlands. 

Beginning  at  the  Mexican  line,  at  a  little  above  tide  water,  we  fuul 
in  the  Tia  Juana  Valley  some  three  thousand  acres  of  fine  grav  granite 
alluvium,  with  water  but  a  few  feet  below  the  surface,  making  the  raising 
of  all  deep-rooted  vegetation  easy  without  irrigation.  This  soil,  which  is 
found  in  all  the  river  bottoms,  is  the  finer  wash   from  the  interior  hills, 

(.S!M 


40  CITY  AND   CO  UNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

wonderfully  rich,  and  it  can  be  plowed  in  any  condition  of  moisture.  It 
is  always  fine  corn  and  alfalfa  land,  excellent  also  for  vines,  deciduous 
fruits  and  vegetables.  This  valley  is  all  taken  up  with  farms.  There  is 
no  trouble  here  with  our  Mexican  neighbors,  the  rowdy  element  that  is 
spoiling  for  a  fight  being  absent  on  both  sides  of  the  line,  and  the  best 
of  feeling  prevailing. 

The  Otay  mesa  has  already  been  mentioned.  Between  that  and 
the  National  "Ranch,  at  an  elevation  of  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  feet, 
lies  the  Otay  Valley,  containing,  with  adjacent  slopes,  some  two  thousand 
acres  of  good  land,  most  of  which  is  now  cultivated  and  dotted  with 
vineyards,  orchards,  and  houses,  nearly  all  done  within  the  last  two 
years.  The  upper  part  of  this  valley  is  included  in  the  Otay  Rancho,  a 
fine  body  of  valley,  slope,  and  mesa  from  two  hundred  to  eight  hundred 
feet  high,  containing  some  four  thousand  acres  of  arable  land,  lying  from 
eight  to  twelve  miles  from  the  coast. 

On  the  northeast,  a  little  farther  from  the  coast,  and  separated  from 
Mexico  by  the  blue  range  of  San  Ysidro,  is  the  Janal,  a  rancho  already 
mentioned,  containing  about  the  same  amount  of  arable  land  as  the 
Otay,  but  with  less  valley  land  and  more  mesa  and  slope.  Both  this  and 
the  Otay  are  composed  of  red  granite  soil  and  a  brown  adobe  of 
extraordinary  richness,  with  an  elevation  of  from  four  hundred  to  eight 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  Some  six  miles  easterly  from  the  Janal,  at 
an  elevation  of  about  fi\'e  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  lies  the  Jamul  Rancho, 
containing  about  five  thousand  acres  of  arable  land,  nearly  &11  fine  red 
granite  soil.  This  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  a  high  rocky  range  from 
three  thousand  to  four  thousand  feet  high,  which,  like  all  other  ridges, 
hides  a  score  or  more  of  mountain  valleys  and  parks. 

Between  the  Janal  and  the  coast  lies  the  tract  of  the  National 
Rancho,  already  mentioned  as  given  to  the  railroad.  North  of  this  we 
come  to  the  valley  of  the  Sweetwater,  part  of  which  is  included  in  the 
National  Rancho.  Passing  several  miles  up  this  valley,  which  contains 
several  thousand  acres  of  rich  bottom  land  like  the  Tia  Juana,  with  long, 
tillable  slopes  on  either  side,  we  come  to  the  Jamacha  Rancho,  'at  an 
elevation  above  the  sea  of  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  five  hundred 
feet.  This  has  some  four  thousand  acres  of  fine  red  land  and  is  about 
sixteen  miles  from  the  coast.  Upon  this  is  the  new  town  of  La  Presa, 
one  of  the  best  and  most  picturesque  of  all  the  suburban  town  sites. 
Over  the  ridge  on  the  north  lies  El  Cajon.  Behind  the  peak  of  San 
Miguel,  which  towers  four  thousand  feet  upon  the  south,  lie  the  Janal 
and  Jamul ;  and  o\-er  the  low  hills  on  the  northwest  lies  .Spring  Valley,  a 
choice  body  of  some  three  thousand  acres  of  Government  land,  now  cut 
up  into  farms  and  green  with  vineyards  and  orchards,  lying  about  twelve 
miles  from  the  coast  and  from  four  hundred  to  seven  hundred  feet  above 
it.     At  its  upper  end  is  the  new  town  of  Helix. 


IiK^T  National  Bank   I'.ni  imnl,  >a\  i)iEr.o,  l  ai.. 


Tifi-:  /A)  w '/■:/<  COAST  dims  ion.  4r 

Continuing  u]^  the  Sweetwater  several  miles  we  pass  farni  after 
farm,  and  place  after  place  where  good  farms  can  be  made,  and  pass  as 
usual  numerous  farms  hidden  from  sight  by  hills  or  timber.  About 
twenty-five  miles  from  the  sea  the  Sweetwater  bottom  narrows  to  a 
rocky  canon  in  which  there  is  scarcely  any  arable  land  for  nearly  twenty 
miles.  We  leave  the  valley  on  the  south,  however,  and  turn  north  upon 
one  of  its  tributaries  along  which  are  several  farms  and  several  places 
for  others,  until  at  an  elevation  of  twelve  hundred  feet  and  twenty-five 
miles  from  the  coast  we  reach  Alpine  District  just  east  of  El  Cajon;  a 
point  to  which  we  will  again  return. 

North  of  the  Sweetwater  the  coast  lands  are  composed,  as  far  as  the 
San  Diego  River,  some  ten  miles  in  all,  of  the  mesa  lands  already  men- 
tioned as  lying  around  and  behind  National  City  and  San  Diego,  the 
elevation  ranging  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  six  hundred  feet  above 
the  sea.  Back  of  National  City  the  slope  is  very  gentle.  Back  of  .San 
Diego  the  land  rises  at  first  faster  than  at  National,  and  then  from  a  gen- 
eral level  of  three  hundred  feet  slopes  gently  inland.  All  these  mesas 
are  bounded  on  the  east  by  Spring  Valley  and  El  Cajon. 

The  lower  valley  of  the  San  Diego  River,  called  Mission  X'allev,  is   ^ 
well  settled  and  contains  some  four  thousand  acres  of  gray  granite  allu- 
vium, with  slopes  of  red  land  on  either  side,  in  all  some  five  thousand 
acres,  all  very  rich.     Some  ten   miles  from  the  coast  it  narrows  into  a 
canon,  which  about  four  miles  farther  east  runs  into  El  Cajon. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  San  Diego  River  the  land  rises  again  into 
a  fine  mesa  from  three  hundred  to  seven  hundred  feet  high,  as  yet  but 
little  settled,  but  containing  long  sweeps  of  fine  land,  with  a  climate 
equal  to  any.  This  reaches  with  but  few  breaks  to  Penasquitos  Creek 
on  the  north,  and  Poway  and  El  Cajon  on  the  east. 

Poway  is  a  well-settled  interior  valley  like  the  Jamul,  about  fifteen 
miles  from  the  ocean  and  about  five  hundred  feet  above  it.  It  contains 
about  si.x  thousand  acres  of  fine  red  land,  but,  like  everything  else  we 
have  seen,  has  numerous  branches  and  side  valleys,  not  discovered 
except  by  special  search,  which  increase  considerably  the  amount  ot 
arable  land.  Over  the  low  ridge  on  the  south  lies^ El  Cajon;  over  the 
high  rocky  range,  from  three  thousand  to  four  thousand  feet  high,  on  the 
east,  lies  the  Santa  Maria;  hidden  among  the  rolling  hills  on  the  west, 
lies  Penasquitos  Rancho;  and  on  the  north  is  the  rancho  San  Bernardo. 

The  San  Bernardo,  about  twelve  miles  from  the  coast,  and  fi\-e 
hundred  to  seven  hundred  feet  high,  contains  about  twelve  thousand 
acres  of  fine  red  land  with  several  very  thriving  farms.  It  joins  Escon- 
dido  on  the  north  and  shares  largely  in  the  general  ad\'antages  of 
that  large  valley.  The  greater  part  of  it  is  rich  mesa  and  slope  and  is 
above  the  frost  belt  of  the  bottom  of  the  Bernardo  River.  Easterly  from 
Bernardo,    about   eighteen    miles  from  the  sea  and  fi\e  hundred  t'eet 


42  CITY  AND  COUXTY  OF  SAN  DI]-:(;0. 

abo\e  it,  lies  the  \alley  uf  San  Pasqual,  how  well  settled  and  containing- 
some  four  thousand  acres  of  bottom  land  and  slope,  all  \ery  productive 
and  threaded  by  the  Bernardo  River. 

Penasquitos  Rancho  is  a  long,  narrow  valley  nearly  west  of  Poway, 
about  twelve  miles  in  length,  and  some  four  miles  from  the  coast  at  its 
lower  end.  Its  elevation  is  from  one  hundred  to  six  hundred  feet  above 
the  sea  and  it  contains  with  slopes  and  all  some  four  thousand  acres  of 
good,  arable  land.  At  its  lower  end  it  opens  into  Soledad,  a  small  val- 
ley having  considerable  good  land  at  its  upper  end.  Just  around  the 
opening  of  Soledad  Valley  upon  the  sea  lies  the  handsome  seaside  town 
of  Del  Mar,  with  some  three  hundred  inhabitants.  East  and  north  of 
Del  Mar,  are  two  or  three  miles  of  mesa  covered  with  brush  but  mostly 
good  land,  and  then  we  descend  into  t-he  valley  of  the  San  Dieguito 
River. 

Here  are  some  six  thousand  acres  in  all  of  fine  alluvium  with  slopes 
ol  red  land,  and  then  the  land  suddenly  rises  into  another  mesa  similar 
to  the  last.  In  about  two  miles  this  falls  again  into  the  valley  of  San 
Elijo,  a  small  valley  of  rich  land  with  slopes  of  adobe  and  granite  loam 
and  running  back  some  six  miles  from  the  sea  to  an  elevation  of  about 
three  hundred  feet.  This  again  rises  into  a  narrow  mesa  of  red  land,  a 
part  of  the  Encinitas  Rancho,  which  descends  again  into  the  valley  of 
Encinitas.  Encinitas  is  a  small  Mexican  grant  of  four  thousand  acres, 
of  which  twenty-five  hundred  are  arable,  consisting  of  rich  gray  loam, 
adobe,  and  red  granite  soil  at  various  elevations  from  one  hundred  and 
fifty  to  five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea  and  about  four  miles  distant. 
West  of  the  valley  on  a  fine  table-land  is  the  town  of  Encinitas  with 
some  two  hundred  inhabitants.  Passing  Encinitas  Rancho  the  land 
is  rougher  for  a  few  miles,  with  salt  washes  reaching  up  from  the  coast 
with  fine  strips  of  mesa  between,  reaching  to  the  very  coast;  that 
between  Encinitas  and  the  sea  being  especially  fine. 

A  few  miles  farther  on  lies  the  Rancho  Agua  Hedionda  lying  im- 
mediately on  the  coast  and  running  back  some  six  miles  to  an  elevation 
of  five  hundred  feet.  This  contains  some  ten  thousand  acres  in  all  of 
plow  land,  mostly  red  fertile  mesa  rolling  and  abounding  in  most 
picturesque  building  spots  that  look  down  upon  the  sea,  with  rich 
valley  land  between.  Just  north  of  this  is  Carlsbad,  a  new  watering- 
place  with  a  mineral  spring  whose  waters  are  attracting  much  attention. 
A  few  miles  north  of  Carlsbad  is  Oceanside,  a  fast-growing  seaside 
town  of  over  a  thousand  people. 

Ea.st  of  Agua  Hedionda  is  the  San  Marcos  Rancho,  a  fine  combi- 
nation of  valley,  slope,  and  low  mesa  running  from  six  to  twelve  miles 
from  the  sea  at  an  average  elevation  of  six  hundred  feet.  It  contains  in 
all  some  six  thousand  acres  of  arable  land.  Upon  this  some  six  miles 
from  the  sea  is  the  witw  town  (jf  .San  Marcos  in  a  very  fertile  and  pictur- 
esque spot. 


THE  LOWER    COAST  DIVISION. 


43 


Joining  this  on  the  east  and  San  Bernardo  on  the  south,  hes  the 
Rancho  Escondido,  generally  known  on  the'map  as  Rincon  del  Diablo, 
twelve  miles  from  the  sea  and  seven  hundred  feet  above  it.  This  has 
some  eleven  thousand  acres  of  fine  arable  land  mostly  in  valley  alluvium, 
smooth  plains,  and  low  mesa  land  of  fine  red  granite  soil,  the  whole  lying 
in  an  almost  solid  body.  Escondido  is  rapidly  settling  and  has  now  a 
population  of  about  eight  hundred,  of  which  some  six  hundred  are  in  the 
town. 

Between  Escondido,  San  Marcos,  San  Bernardo,  and  the  coast  the 
land  is  mountainous  and  rough  for  several  miles,  but  scattered  around 
in  various  i)arts  of  it  are  many  settlers  in  small  valleys  and  on  mesas. 

.  On  the  north  San  Marcos  and  Escondido  merge  in  a  wide  range  of 
rocky  and  brushy  hills  reaching  to  a  height  of  some  two  thousand  feet 
and  running  through  nearly  to  the  San  Luis  River,  containing  as  usual 
numbers  of  hidden  valleys  in  which  are  dozens  of  farms. 

Northwest  of  San  Marcos  the  land  breaks  away  into  low,  smooth 
hills  which  speedily  run  into  mesa  and  valley  land,  of  which  there  are 
fully  twenty  thousand  acres,  all  fine  arable  land  lying  between  Agua 
Hedionda,  the  San  Luis  River,  and  the  coast,  the  elevation  ranging 
from  fifty  to  five  hundred  feet.  This  is  largely  Government  land  and 
contains  some  of  the  finest  mesa  in  the  county,  much  of  it  commanding 
a  view  of  the  sea. 

Included  in  this,  however,  are  two  small  ranches  of  about  twenty- 
two  hundred  acres  each,  of  which  about  two  thousand  in  each  are  arable 
and  of  fine  quality:  Buena  Vista,  about  eight  miles  from  the  coast  and 
about  five  hundred  feet  high,  and  Guajome,  same  distance  and  from  one 
hundred  and  fifty  to  four  hundred  feet  high. 


CHAPTER    X. 


THE   NORTHERN    DIVISION. 

.HE  San  Luis  Ri\er  Valley  is  a  long  strip  of  the  same 
gray  granite  allu\iuni  that  forms  the  river  bottoms 
generally  with  slopes  of  red'  land  leading  from  the 
mesas  and  rolling  hills  on  either  side.  About  twelve 
miles  from  the  coast  this  runs  through  the  Rancho 
Montserrate,  a  fine  tract  of  valley  and  mesa,  containing 
some  six  thousand  acres  of  plow  land  from  three  hun- 
dred to  seven  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  running  on 
the  north  into  the  district  of  Fallbrook.  Beyond  Mont- 
serrate the  river  wanders  through  the  high,  rugged  hills 
for  some  five  miles  to  the  old  Mission  of  Pala,  with  valleys  and  low 
slopes  among  the  adjoining  hills,  embracing  from  the  sea  up  to  Pala 
(exclusive  of  Montserrate)  about  six  thousand  acres  of  arable  land. 

Returning  to  the  coast  we  find  on  the  north  of  the  San  Luis  the 
great  rancho  Santa  Margarita,  threaded  by  the  Santa  Margarita  or 
Temecula  River,  and  containing  some  fifty  thousand  acres  of  arable 
land.  This  rancho  runs  from  the  coast  some  fifteen  miles  back,  reaching 
an  elevation  of  about  eight  hundred  feet  on  the  south  side  of  the  river 
and  on  the  north  some  three  thousand  feet.  On  the  south  it  is  nearly 
all  high,  rolling  mesa;  on  the  north  of  the  river  a  long,  low  strip  of  fine 
mesa  reaching  to  the  line  of  Los  Angeles  County,  rising  gently  from  the 
sea  for  a  milt-  or  two,  then  swelling  into  high  hills  clad  with  scattered 
oaks  and  abounding  in  little  valleys  and  parks  of  rich  land.  Along  the 
river  are  some  fi\-e  thousand  acres  or  more  of  rich  bottom  lands  of 
granite  alluvium. 

South  of  the  river  the  mesa  continues  beyond  the  line  of  the  rancho 
and  forms  the  settlement  of  Fallbrook  at  a  general  level  of  eight  hundred 
feet  above  the  sea  and  fifteen  miles  from  it.  Here  are  some  five  thou- 
sand acres  of  deep  rolling  red  land,  not  including  Montserrate,  which 
here  joins  it.  Fallbrook  afibrds  a  good  instance  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  average  tourist  and  land  hunter  examines  San  Diego  County.  The 
railroad  passes  some  si.x  hundred  feet  below  through  a  narrow,  rocky 
canon.  At  Fallbrook  the  train  stops  twentv  minutes  for  meals  at  a  little 
station  on  about  three  acres  of  eround  at  the  mouth  of  a  narrow  cation 


(44) 


THE  NORTHERN  DIMS  I  ON.  45 

up  which  the  road  leads  a  mile  or  so  to  the  highlands  above.  Ye  tourist 
alights,  looks  around  the  hills,  and  then  contemptuously  at  the  little  bit 
of  land  around  the  station,  and  sagely  remarks,  "  So  this  is  P'allbrook, 
eh  ?  Well,  I  don't  want  any  of  it."  The  district  of  Fallbrook  embraces 
some  twenty  thousand  acres  of  land  lying  some  four  hundred  feet  above 
the  railroad  and  unsuspected  by  the  traveler.  Its  population  is  about 
four  hundred.  The  town  has  some  three  hundred  peoi)le  and  is  rapidly 
growing. 

Northeast  of  Fallbrook  some  five  miles  lies  a  rich  little  valley  of 
about  one  thousand  acres,  called  the  Vallacito;  but  most  of  the  land  from 
Fallbrook  to  Temecula  on  the  northeast  and  Mount  Palomaronthe  east 
is  a  succession  of  ridges  and  mountains,  with  l)ut  little  arable  land  except 
a  few  little  valleys  and  parks,  in  each  of  which  two  or  three  settlers  are, 
as  usual,  stowed  away  out  of  sight. 

Northeast  of  the  Santa  Margarita  line  on  the  north  side  of  the  river 
the  lofty  hills  sink. suddenly  some  twenty -fi\e  hundred  feet  to  form  a 
large  amphitheater  known  as  Corral  de  Luz,  containing  some  twelve 
hundred  acres  of  plow  land  on  which  are  a  dozen  farms,  but  on  the  north 
these  hills  roll  away  in  rugged,  brush-clad  ranges  to  the  Los  Angeles 
County  line. 

Northeast  of  de  Luz  the  highlands  of  Santa  Rosa  Rancho  suddenly 
mount  to  nearly  two  thousand  feet,  rolling  for  several  miles  in  a  charm- 
ing alternation  of  grass-clad  hills,  slopes,  and  timber-filled  valleys  until 
the  whole  suddenly  tumbles  several  hundred  feet  into  the  Temecula 
Rancho.  Santa  Rosa  a\erages  about  twenty  miles  from  the  ocean  and 
contains  many  thousand  acres  of  arable  land,  the  amount  of  which  it  is 
impossible  to  estimate  closely  on  account  of  its  being  scattered  into  many 
small  valleys  and  slopes,  but  probably  fi\e  thousand  in  all. 

Northwest  of  Santa  Rosa  the  land  rises  to  thirty-five  hundred  feet 
and  over  and  continues  on  a  dark  jungle  of  chaparral  mixed  with  bowl- 
ders and  cut  with  ra\'ines,  with  a  few  little  A-alleys  and  parks,  away  to 
the  county  line  of  Los  Angeles.  But  on  the  northeast  the  land  suc!- 
denly  sinks  again  and  an  open  country  consisting  mainly  of  broad  plains 
and  low  mesas,  interrupted  occasionally  by  a  range  of  rocky  or  brushy 
hills,  spreads  away  toward  the  great  peak  of  San  Jacinto  ten'  thousand 
live  hundred  feet  high  and  fifty  miles  away. 

The  Temecula  Rancho,  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  lofty  slopes  of 
Santa  Rosa  and  on  the  east  by  low,  open  mesas,  reaches  from  the  Santa 
Margarita  River,  where  it  enters  the  canon  through  which  the  railroad 
runs,  some  ten  miles  along  the  railroad.  It  contains  about  ten  thousand 
acres  of  arable  land,  nearly  all  granite  alluvium  or  red  mesa,  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  ele\'en  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  feet  and  about  twenty-fi\-e 
miles  from  the  sea.  On  the  northern  part  of  this  is  the  town  of  Mur- 
rieta. 


46  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

Just  south  of  the  Santa  Margarita  Creek  at  this  point  lies  the  Little 
Pemecula  Rancho,  a  small  grant  with  some  two  thousand  acres  of  plow 
land,  at  about  the  same  elevation  and  distance  inland  as  the  other. 

Northeast  of  this  is  the  Pauba  Rancho,  about  thirty  miles  from  the 
coast  and  eleven  hundred  to  eighteen  hundred  feet  high,  with  some  ten 
thousand  acres  of  fine  valley  and  low  mesa,  also  nearly  all  granite  soil. 

Northeast  of  the  Temecula,  at  an  elevation  of  about  twelve  hundred 
feet  and  about  twenty-five  miles  from  the  coast,  is  the  Laguna  Rancho,  a 
long,  narrow  grant  reaching  nearly  to  the  Los  Angeles  County  line  and 
embracing  the  largest  lake  in  the  county.  Around  this  and  southeast  of 
it  are  some  five  thousand  acres  of  good  plow  land  mostly  red  granite 
and  very  rich.  The  lake  is  fed  by  the  San  Jacinto  River.  By  this  lake 
is  the  thriving  town  of  Elsinore  with  nearly  a  thousand  people,  with 
Wildomar  near  by  well  on  the  road  to  overtake  it.  North  of  this  river 
and  between  the  railroad  and  the  county  line  there  is  little  but  rough, 
rolling  hills  and  rugged  mesas,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  strip  near 
Perris.  East  of  the  railroad,  however,  sweeps  a  great  plain  of  red  gran- 
ite soil,  mile  after  mile  to  the  east  and  southeast  broken  by  small  mount- 
ain ranges  and  rolling  mesas.  This  is  nearly  all  Government  land  with 
an  average  elevation  of  sixteen  hundred  feet.  The  amount  of  its  arable 
land  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  closely;  but  including  the  Cohuilla  Val- 
ley, Bladen,  and  a  few  other  spots  that  appear  before  the  land  rises  into 
the  high  range  that  bounds  the  desert,  there  are  at  the  very  least  calcu- 
lation forty  thousand  acres  of  land  fit  for  the  plow. 

This  tract  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Rancho  San  Jacinto 
Nuevo,  a  grant  containing  some  ten  thousand  acres  of  plow  land,  nearly 
all  a  broad  plain  of  red  granite  soil  about  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
high  and  some  forty  miles  from  the  coast. 

Joining  this  on  the  southeast  lies  the  San  Jacinto  Viejo  with  about 
thirty  thousand  acres  of  arable  land  divided  into  valley  land  and  mesa 
fifteen  to  forty  feet  above  it.  A  large  part  of  this  mesa,  like  the  bottom 
land,  is  alluvium,  the  rest  of  it  being  red  land.  This  rancho  lies  about 
fifteen  hundred  feet  above  the  sea  level  and  nearly  fifty  miles  from  the 
coast,  is  threaded  by  the  San  Jacinto  River  and  bounded  on  the  east  by 
the  high  range  of  the  San  Jacinto  Mountains.  On  this  valley  land  is  the 
town  of  San  Jacinto,  with  some  sixteen  hundred  people. 

This  chapter  and  the  last  one  include  about  all  the  lowlands  of  the 
county  except  a  few  tracts  on  each  side  of  Mount  Palomar  better  consid- 
ered under  the  mountain  division.  The  classification  thus  adopted  has 
been  more  according  to  rainfall  than  to  actual  elvation ;  and  even  to  this 
standard  it  is  impossible  to  remain  consistent  without  skipping  around 
too  much.  Thus  Fallbrook,  Santa  Margarita,  and  Santa  Rosa  have 
greater  rainfall  than  most  of  the  other  sections  mentioned,  while  San 
Jacinto   is  farther  from  the  coast  than  Bear  Valley,  which  has  a  much 


THE  NORTHERN  DIVISION. 


47 


greater  rainfall.  Yet  oa  the  whole  I  have  grouped  together  those  whose 
climate  most  approaches  that  of  the  lowlands  in  general. 

Between  and  around  all  the  sections  mentioned  are  small  tracts  of 
various  sizes  and  so  numerous  that  special  mention  of  them  is  out  of  the 
question;  though  some  of  them,  such  as  the  country  between  Bernardo, 
Poway,  and  the  mountains  west  of  the  Santa  Maria,  contain  considerable 
fine  land  upon  which  are  many  prosperous  farms. 

The  estimates  thus  made  include  only  good  plow  land  free  from 
rocks,  stumps,  or  swamps,  and  not  rough  land  that  may  in  future  be 
cultivated  when  all  else  is  taken  up.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  all 
the  other  land  which  composes  these  large  ranches  is  worthless.  I  have 
omitted  notice  of  it  for  brevity,  but  most  of  it  is  good  stock  range,  nearly 
all  of  it  is  iair,  and  some  of  it  excellent.  The  proportion  of  this  to  the 
arable  land  is  often  large,  as  in  Santa  Margarita,  which  has  in  all  about 
one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  acres,  of  which  not  over  fifty  thousand 
would  at  present  be  considered  arable.  In  other  cases  the  proportion 
of  arable  land  is  in  excess,  as  in  Escondido,  which  out  of  twelve  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  forty  acres  has  some  eleven  thousand  of  plow 
land. 

There  are  also  thousands  of  acres  that  will  be  considered  good 
plow  land  in  less  than  five  years  that  would  hardly  be  considered  so  to- 
day. To  be  on  the  safe  side  all  such  has  been  omitted.  For  instance, 
there  are  on  Warner's  Ranch  (described  in  next  chapter)  some  fifteen 
thousand  acres  of  low,  rolling  hills  free  from  rock,  which  can  be  plowed 
and  which  will  in  time  make  good  fruit  land.  This  would  bring  up  the 
arable  land  to  thirty-five  thousand  acres.  Yet  as  it  would  scarcely  be 
deemed  good  plow  land  to-day  I  leave  it  out.  This  plan  will  be  fol- 
lowed throughout. 


CHAPTER    XI. 


THK   MOUNTAIN    DIXISION. 


^AN  JACINTO,  ten  thousand  five  hundred  feet 
high,  is  the  highest  point  in  the  county.  But 
this  resembles  the  mountains  of  Los  Angeles 
and  San  Bernardino  Counties  more  than  the  gen- 
eral mountain  part  of  San  Diego.  It  has,  how- 
ever, a  kw  valleys  of  rich  land,  but  none  of 
them  are  large  enough  for  any  purpose  but 
stock  range  and  isolated  farms.  The  southern 
continuation  of  the  range  for  many  miles  is  of 
the  same  character  until  near  the  borders  of  Warner's  Ranche.  Between 
the  edge  of  this  range  where  it  bounds  the  desert  and  Mt.  Palomar,  some 
thirty  miles  east,  is  a  large  tract  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Pauba 
Rancho  and  Cohuilla  Valley  and  the  San  Jancinto  plains  and  on  the 
south  by  Warner's  Ranche  and  the  Coyote  Mountains.  The  greater 
part  of  this  is  a  very  rough  country,  with  numerous  bare  hills,  steep,  low, 
and  ugly,  having  a  few  small  valleys  among  them.  This  is  also  in 
many  years  a  dry  belt,  the  long  and  lofty  Palomar  cutting  off  most  of 
the  rain  that  comes  from  the  coast.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  spots 
like  Aguanga  and  Oak  Grove  there  is  here  little  of  value  until  we  reach 
Warner's  Ranche. 

Warner's  appears  on  the  maps  as  San  Jose  del  Valle  and  \'alle  de 
San  Jose.  It  is  composed  of  two  Mexican  grants  lying  at  the  southeast 
of  Palomar  with  an  elevation  of  twenty-five  hundred  to  three  thousand 
feet  and  about  forty  miles  from  the  coast.  It  contains  in  all  some  fifteen 
thousand  acres  of  fine  plow  land  exclusi\e  of  that  mentioned  in  the  List 
chapter,  mostly  gray  granite  loam  somewhat  coarser  than  that  found  in 
the  lower  ranchos  but  of  excellent  quality  for  all  kinds  of  fruit.  The 
most  of  the  ranche  is  rolling  upland,  but  there  is  also  considerable  bot- 
tom land. 

The  southwest  edge  rolls  upward  a  thousand  feet  or  more  in  a  long 
line  of  blue  and  yellow  bluffs  clad  in  grass,  chaparral,  and  oak  into  the 
highlands  of  Mesa  Grande,  which  we  have  seen  before.  On  the  south 
it  rises  over  three  thousand  feet  into  the  pine-clad  heights  of  Mount 
Volcan,  the  eastern  boundary  of  Santa  Ysabel. 
(48) 


THE  MOl'NTAIN  D I  \' IS  ION.  49 

Northwest  of  Warner's  Ranchc  the  loni^,  hi^h  back  of  Palomar  runs 
away  to  Temecula.  Palomar,  comnionl}-  known  as  "  Smith's  Mountain," 
is  about  six  thousand  feet  high  and  nearly  twenty  miles  long^.  Its  tojj  and 
sides  are  partly  clad  in  pine  and  oak,  cedar  and  silver  fir.  Ujjon  it  are 
some  six  thousand  acres  of  good  plow  land,  fine  meadows  and  little  val- 
leys abounding  upon  its  top  and  along  its  sides.  At  the  foot  of  its 
western  slope,  some  four  thousand  feet  below  the  top  and  upon  the 
banks  of  the  upper  San  Luis  Ri\'er,  and  some  twenty-four  miles  from 
the  sea,  lie  two  Mexican  grants,  Pauma  and  Cuca. 

The  Cuca  is  a  small  grant  about  twenty-five  hundred  feet  above  sea 
level  containing  some  six  hundred  or  eight  hundred  acres  only  of  arable 
land  but  of  very  fine  quality,  while  Pauma,  about  fifteen  hundred  feet 
high,  contains  some  four  thousand  acres  of  coarser  grade  than  that  of 
Cuca  but  still  \^xy  desirable  for  fruit-raising. 

South  of  the  San  Luis  Ri\er  at  this  point  the  land  rises  again  mto  a 
broad  tract  from  fifteen  hundred  to  three  thousand  feet  high  running 
through  on  the  southwest  some  twehe  miles  to  the  rugged  hills  that 
look  down  upon  the  fair  Escondido,  on  the  south  some  twel\-e  miles  to 
the  edge  of  the  deep  canon  of  the  upper  San  Dieguito  River,  on  the 
east  some  tweK'e  miles  from  Escondido  to  the  deep  canon  in  which 
Pauma  Valley  lies  nestled,  and  rising  on  the  other  side  with  sudden 
sweep  into  the  western  highlands  of  Mesa  Grande. 

On  the  southeastern  part  of  this  lies  the  Rancho  Guejito  with  some 
seven  thousand  acres  of  rolling  mesa  and  valley  all  red  granite  soil, 
about  two  thousand  two  hundred  feet  abo\e  the  sea  and  .some  thirtv-fi\"e 
miles  from  it. 

The  rest  of  this  inclosure  that  at  a  distance  looks  so  rough  and  mi- 
inhabitable  embraces  a  dozen  or  more  valleys  nearly  all  connected  and 
having  an  average  elevation  of  fifteen  hundred  feet  with  considerable 
mesa  and  slope.  This  is  all  known  under  the  general  name  of  Bear 
Valley  and  contains  some  seven  thousand  acres  of  plow  land. 

Crossing  Santa  Ysabel  again  we  come  to  Mount  Volcan,  south  of 
Warner's  Ranche  and  five  thousand  to  six  thousand  feet  high.  This  is 
a  broad-topped  mountain  with  considerable  arable  land,  grassy  slopes 
and  valleys  and  timber-clad  ridges  and  gulches. 

On  the  east  this  mountain  suddenly  falls  some  three  thousand  Xw^ 
hundred  feet  into  the  Rancho  San  Felipe.  This  contains  some  four 
thou.sand  acres  of  fine  arable  land,  most  of  it  .sloping  away  toward  the 
desert. 

Going  up  the  canon  by  wa^'  of  Banner  on  the  southeast  we  reach 
Julian  and  soon  come  once  more  to  the  Cuyamaca  Rancho  which  we 
cross  and  go  southward.  Tlic  Cuvamaca  contains  some  six  thousand 
acres  of  arable  land  of  which  a  i)art  is  included  in  the  valley  known  as 
Guatay.  West  of  the  main  peak  of  the  Cuyamaca,  among  the  forks  of 
4 


50  CITY  AXD  COUNTY  OF  SAN  D /EGO. 

the  San  Dieyo  River,  which  heads  there,  are  some  small  valleys  and 
mesas  with  se\eral  hvmdred  acres  of  good  land;  but  the  mountains  be- 
some  rougher  as  we  go  south  and  plow  land  grows  scarcer.  South  of 
the  San  Diego  River  we  find  no  mountain  valley  larger  than  Viejas, 
which  with  its  branches  contains  some  twenty-five  hundred  acres  of  fine 
tillable  land  at  an  elevation  of  twenty-two  hundred  feet  and  thirty  miles 
from  the  coast. 

From  Viejas  the  land  falls  away  toward  El  Cajon  on  the  east  in 
small  mesas,  \'alleys  and  slopes  known  as  Alpine  District  and  containing 
a  few  thousand  acres  of  plow  land  bounded  by  the  deep,  rough  canon 
of  the  Sweetwater  on  the  south  and  on  the  west  by  the  east  line  of 
El  Cajon. 

South  of  the  Sweetwater  the  mountain  valleys  are  smaller  than  on 
the  north  and  steeper  on  their  sides.  Slopes  and  mesas  of  arable  land 
are  also  smaller:  Pine  Valley,  Lawson's  Valley,  Potrero,  Cottonwood, 
and  Milquatay  are  all  small  but  very  pretty  and  fertile  valleys  separated 
by  rough  mountains.  A  few  small  valleys  and  mesas  are  scattered 
among  them  and  in  the  timbered  range  of  the  Laguna  Mountains  is  con- 
siderable arable  land.  All  this  section  is  on  a  heavy  rain  belt  and  the 
arable  land  is  very  fine  in  quality  often  with  good  stock  range  between 
the  tracts. 

Upon  the  Colorado  desert,  which  forms  some  three-fifths  of  the 
whole  county,  are  thousands  of  acres  of  land  of  which  the  quality  is  good' 
enough.  Most  of  it  cannot  be  irrigated  at  all,  while  much  of  it  will  some 
day  be  reclaimed  by  the  waters  of  the  Colorado  River,  by  artesian 
wells  and  water  from  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  mountains.  But  the  rain- 
fall is  generally  so  light  and  the  hot  winds  are  so  common  that  much 
cultixation  is  at  present  out  of  the  question,  and  the  desert  is  practically 
uninhabitable.  For  this  reason  the  desert  is  never  intended  to  be  in- 
cluded when  mention  is  made  of  San  Diego  County  by  any  of  its  resi- 
dents. 

The  estimate  of  arable  land  thus  far  made  is  a  close  one,  rather 
under  than  over.  It  is  greater  than  it  would  have  been  made  five  years 
ago  and  less  than  it  will  be  five  years  from  now.  Yet  I  have  taken  pains 
to  estimate  it  from  the  present  standpoint.  The  time  is  not  far  distant 
when  settlers  will  roll  rocks  out  of  the  hill-sides  and  plant  trees  in  their 
places,  when  hill-sides  will  be  terraced  for  vineyards,  and  cobblestones 
will  be  raked  from  the  soil  and  fences  built  of  them,  as  has  long  been 
done  in  the  East.  But  it  would  not  be  fair  to  include  such  lands  in  any 
estimate  now,  though  they  would  add  largely  to  the  number  of  acres. 

It  will  be  safe  to  add  to  the  acreage  thus  far  described  five  per  cent 
for  small  interv-ening  tracts  of  which  space  will  not  permit  special  men- 
tion. We  then  have  as  the  total  acreage  of  fairly  arable  land  in  the 
county  in  the  three  divisions  about  five  hundred  and  thirtv  thousand 


TlUi  MOIWTAIN  DIVISION.  51 

acres.  Adding  five  per  cent  we  have  in  round  numbers  five  hundred 
and  fifty-five  thousand  acres,  which  exceeds  the  amount  of  fairly  arable 
land  in  San  Bernardino  County  estimated  upon  the  same  basis,  and  ap- 
proaches very  nearly  that  of  Los  Angeles  County,  excluding  in  both 
cases  of  course  their  share  of  desert. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


WATER. 


far  the  land  has  been  estimated  as  plow  land 
pure  and  simple.  Ninety-five  per  cent  of  it 
needs  no  clearing  whatever,  none  of  it  at  pres- 
ent needs  fertilization  and  for  many  kinds  of 
products  never  will  need  any.  It  does  how- 
ever  need  water.  The  ways  and  possibilities  of 
watering  are  so  numerous  and  varied,  there  is 
such  difference  in  the  distance  of  the  under- 
ground water,  such  differences  in  the  amount  of  rainfall,  that  it  has  been 
impossible  within  the  limits  of  a  reader's  patience  to  consider  the  water 
question  in  connection  with  each  tract.  It  will  be  necessary  therefore  to 
treat  it  generally  using  particular  localities  only  to  illustrate  a  principle. 
As  we  have  seen  in  our  first  trip  from  coast  to  mountain-top  the 
rainfall  increases  with  elevation.  There  are  four  different  rain  belts 
caused  by  this  change,  and  the  whole  county  is  subject  to  its  influence. 
We  find  however  other  changes  for  which  we  cannot  account  in  this 
way.  Thus  Fallbrook  has  generally  more  rain  than  many  other  places 
having  a  greater  elevation  and  distance  from  the  coast;  while  the  coast 
line  above  the  Santa  Margarita  River  has  generally  more  than  the  coast 
below.  Still  the  general  rule  is  that  the  rainfall  depends  upon  elevation, 
especially  where  a  broad  tract  is  elevated. 

The  general  impression  that  San  Diego  is  a  dry  country  has  been 
caused  by  the  constant  publication  of  the  rain  record  of  San  Diego  City 
to  prove  that  it  has  the  best  climate  in  California,  to  wit,  the  driest. 
An  ordinary  reader  would  infer  that  this  represented  the  rainfall  of  the 
colmty. 

The  following  is  the  rainfall  by  seasons  for  San  Diego  City  for  fif- 
teen years.  This  record  is  compiled  by  the  signal  service  observer 
himself  at  the  U.  S.  Signal  Station  at  San  Diego,  and  is  the  only  ac- 
curate one  yet  published.     All  others  are  too  low: — 

YEAKS.  INCHES.  YEARS.  INCHES.  YEAKS.  INCHES. 

1871-72 7.18        1876-77 3.65  1881-82 9.44 

1872-73 7.41         1877-78 16.10  1882-83 4.92 

1873-74 14.95         1878-79 7.81  1883-S4 ..25.97 

1874-75 5.48         1879-80 14.48  1884-85 8.00 

1875-76 9.46         1880-81   5.20  1885-86 16.62 

(52) 


It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  the  rainfall  is  \erv  \ariable.  Sik  h  i.> 
the  case  all  o\-er  California.  The  difterence  between  the  different  rain 
belts  is  most  aj^parent  in  the  years  of  very  low  rainfall. 

The  second  rain  belt  is  best  .shown  by  the  rainfall  at  Fallljrook.  where 
we  have  a  record  of  the  last  elex-en  years  as  follows: — 

YEARS.  IN-CIIES.  YE.\R.S.  INCHE.S. 

1875-76 17.51         1880-81 11.45 

1876-77 8.75         1881-82 12.24 

1877-78 24.84        1882-83 10.60 

1878-79 S.52         1883-84 40.25 

1879-80 20.45         1884  85 12.78 

1885-86 2G.50 

Under  this  rainfall  well-tilled  land  has  never  failed  to  i)roduce  ^yood 
crops. 

The  third  rain  belt,  best  represented  by  Bear  Valle}-,  Santa  Maria, 
Viejas,  and  similar  elevations  within  that  range,  has  about  thirty-five  per 
cent  more  rain  than  Fallbrook. 

The  fourth,  or  high  mountain  belt,  is  best  represented  by  the  rain- 
fall of  Julian  four  thousand  two  hundred  feet  high  and  about  forty  miles 
from  the  coast. 

We  have  only  fi\'e  years  of  reliable  report. 

YEAR.S.  INCHE.S.  YEARS.  INCHES. 

1979-80 30.63         1881-82 29.28 

1880-81 25.89        1882-83 41.31 

1883-84 61.42 

A  record  of  the  snow  was  kept  in  only  one  of  these  years,  1882-83, 
when  it  was  five  feet,  making  se\en  inches  of  water,  which  are  included 
in  tlte  41.31  inches.  Reference  to  the  San  Diego  table  shows  this  to  be 
the  driest  winter  on  the  coast  since  1877.  As  a  large  proportion  of  the 
water  at  this  elevation  is  every  year  precipitated  in  snow,  especiallv  in 
wet  years,  it  will  be  sale  to  add  about  twentv  jJer  cent  for  snow  to  the 
other  four  years.  In  1881-82  there  were  over  five  feet  of  snow  at  Julian 
in  a  single  storm.  This  snowfall  increases  of  course  with  elevation  and 
on  the  high  mountains  it  often  takes  weeks  to  melt  off.  Following  the 
analogies  of  elevation  from  the  coast  upward  it  would  be  safe  to  add  at 
least  thirty-five  per  cent  more  for  thene.xt  one  thousand  feet  of  elevation. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  precipitation  at  the  Cuyamaca  is  considerably 
greater  than  at  Julian.  The  average  rainfall  is  doubtless  fifty  inches  at 
five  thousand  feet. 

This  high  rain  belt  embraces  about  forty  townships,  being  one  thou- 
sand four  hundred  and  forty  square  miles,  or  nine  hundred  and  twenty- 
one  thousandsi.x  hundred  acres  of  land.  As  most  of  this  is  quite  steep 
hill-side  with  a  tight  soil,  as  the  rain  falls  very  /apidlyand  the  snow  melts 
fiist  under  the  warm  sun,  the  amount  of  water  that  runs  off  is  fullv  sixty 
percent.      Of  the  remaining  fortv  i)er  cent  UilK'  thirt\-  per  cent  finds  its 


54  CITY  AXD   COUNTY  OF  SA.V  DIEGO. 

way  seaward  under-ground,  trickling  out  in  thousands  of  springs  and 
rivulets  which  in  the  mountains  combine  their  water  into  little  brooks 
and  run  all  summer,  but  as  they  approach  the  coast  sink  in  sand,  or 
into  the  soft  granite  bed-rock  or  old  under-ground  channels  and  disap- 
pear. 

The  drainage  of  this  broad  highland  area  forms  seven  rivers  which 
in  wet  winters  often  carry  water  enough  all  the  way  to  the  coast  to  float 
a  large  steamboat.  They  are  often  impassible  for  days  at  a  time.  Dur- 
ing the  summer  they  generally  sink  into  their  deep  beds  of  sand  and 
under-ground  channels,  and  cease  running  above-ground,  except  in  a 
few  spots  where  a  small  thread  may  run  for  half  a  mile  or  so.  Water 
may  always  be  found  in  abundance  a  foot  or  two  below  the  surface  of 
the  sand ;  but  generally  there  is  no  flow  above-ground  worthy  of  men- 
tion until  we  reach  the  mountains,  though  in  years  of  excessive  rain 
these  rivers  flow  to  the  coast  all  summer. 

In  many  years  of  low  rainfall  the  excess  above  the  summer  flow  is 
only  in  the  mountains,  the  water,  though  in  abundance  there,  serving 
only  to  fill  up  the  sand  and  under-ground  channels  below.  In  such 
years,  large  streams  pouring  from  the  mountains  are  swallowed  up 
within  ten  miles  or  less  after  leaving  the  steep,  rocky  channels,  and 
reaching  the  sand  beds  of  the  lower  levels. 

The  irrigation  possibilities  of  this  county  are  far  beyond  what  they 
are  generally  supposed  to  be  even  by  old  residents.  The  lowest  rain- 
fall recorded  anywhere  on  this  area  of  highland  in  fifteen  years,  was  at 
Mesa  Grande  in  1877,  where  at  an  elevation  of  three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred feet  the  fall  was  twenty-four  and  one-half  inches.  At  Pine  Valley, 
thirty  miles  south,  and  same  elevation,  the  rain  gauge  for  the  same  year 
gave  twenty-five  inches.  Reducing  the  percentage  of  water  running  off" 
to  forty  per  cent  we  have  about  ten  inches.  Twenty  inches  being  suffi- 
cient for  full  irrigation,  we  have  water  enough  lost  by  surface  drainage 
to  irrigate  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  amount  that  afterward  drains  from  below  the  surface.  And  this 
for  the  driest  season  yet  recorded.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  water 
that  will  cover  land  ten  inches  deep  will  serve  very  well  for  irrigation, 
though  it  is  not  enough  for  the  best  results. 

The  proportion  of  this  drainage  that  can  be  secured  for  irrigation 
cannot  be  easily  estimated,  as  it  is  in  most  cases  merely  a  question  of 
what  expense  the  present  value  of  the  land  will  justify.  There  are  many 
places  where  large  resen^oirs  may  be  made  in  the  mountains  to  catch  the 
flood  waters  there,  many  others  where  they  may  be  made  in  the  low- 
lands and  water  from  the  mountains  led  into  them,  many  others  in  the 
lowlands  where  dams  may  be  made  to  catch  the  waters  of  wet  winters 
and  hold  them  over  for  dry  ones. 

Several  large   schemes  of  this  sort  are   already  projected.     The 


WATER.  55 

Hemmet  Valley  Reservoir  Company  will  build  a  dam  one  hundred  and 
ten  feet  high  in  the  San  Jacinto  Mountains  and  irrigate  a  part  of  the  San 
Jacinto  plains.  The  San  Marcos  Water  Company  will  irrigate  by  res- 
ervoirs the  fine  country  around  Encinitas  and  on  each  side  along  the 
coast.  In  time  the  San  Luis  River  will  be  brought  upon  San  Marcos. 
Escondido,  and  the  mesas  about  Oceanside.  The  San  Luis  Rey  Flume 
Company  is  already  at  work  upon  this  great  project.  The  Otay  Valley 
Water  Company  has  been  incorporated  to  irrigate  by  means  of  a  large 
reservoir,  with  a  dam  of  one  hundred  feet  in  height,  the  Otay  Valley  and 
adjoining  mesas.  The  Fallbrook  Water  and  Power  Company  is  now 
at  work  to  bring  water  from  Temecula  River  upon  the  Fallbrook 
country. 

The  Sweetwater  Valley  Water  Company  is  incorporated  to  build  a 
twenty-five  foot  dam  in  the  Sweetwater  River  at  a  narrow  gorge  upon 
the  Jamacha  Rancho,  and  irrigate  part  of  the  Jamacha  and  National 
Rancho  below,  conducting  the  water  from  the  dam  with  a  flume  and 
pipes.  This  company  has  already  made  the  necessary  surveys  and  be- 
gun condemnation  proceedings  for  right  of  way,  etc. 

The  Land  and  Town  Company  ha\'e  about  finished  a  large  dam  in 
the  Sweetwater,  si.x  miles  east  of  National  City,  which  is  to  be  ninety 
feet  high.  From  this  the  water  will  be  taken  to  the  best  part  of  their 
lands  below  National  City,  and  will  also  supply  National  City  with  water 
for  household  use.  The  Mission  Valley  Water  Company  is  at  work  to 
bring  water  from  the  San  Diego  River  upon  the  Mission  Valley. 

These  four  last  enterprises,  in  connection  with  the  one  next  men- 
tioned, will  reclaim  four-fifths  of  all  the  dry  lands  within  ten  miles  of  the 
bay,  and  whenever  it  will  be  safe  to  trust  a  flume  outside  of  the  Ameri- 
can line,  the  Tia  Juana  may  be  brought  in  from  Mexico  to  reclaim  some 
twenty  thousand  more. 

The  most  advanced  of  all  these  projects  is  that  of  the  San  Diego 
Flume  Company,  which  intends  taking  the  waters  of  the  San  Diego 
River  thirty-five  miles  back  from  the  coast.  This  line  is  now  under 
rapid  construction,  the  two  principal  dams  are  done,  and  the  whole  line 
is  graded  and  tunneled,  sixteen  miles  of  flume  built,  and  the  whole  will 
be  done  to  San  Diego  by  June  i,  1888.  The  Santa  Maria  Land  and 
Water  Company  will  jnit  in  a  large  dam  above  Ramona  to  irrigate  the 
lands  thereabout,  although  very  little  is  needed  on  that  rain  Ix-lt. 

In  addition  to  these  large  systems  J:here  are  numerous  ways  in  whidi 
water  enough  for  a  few  hundred  or  a  thousand  acres  may  be  had.  In 
almost  every  valley  water  m;iy  be  stored  to  some  extent. 

Long,  low  dams  may  be  made  of  simple  earth,  as  in  India.  These 
are  quite  safe  up  to  about  twenty  feet  without  any  puddle  wall,  and  can 
be  made  by  home  labor,  without  any  engineering  skill.  In  the  higher 
lands  there  are  scores  of  small  stream.s  whose  waters  may  be  piped  or 


56  CITY  AXn  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIHGO. 

flunied  out.  There  are  luiiulreds  of  springs  whose  waters  piped  into 
a  cistern  and  saved  will  irrigate  all  the  land  one  needs.  Hundreds  of 
others  may  be  tunneled  out  and  the  flow  of  water  increased  from  ten  to 
fifty-fold.  Water  may  be  pumped,  or  drawn  by  under-ground  pipes, 
from  wells  sunk  in  river  beds  or  washes,  and  horizontal  wells  may  be 
dri\en  into  a  thousand  hill-sides  and  reach  a  fair  supply  of  water  where 
none  now  shows  upon  the  surface.  Artesian  water  has  been  found  in 
some  places,  and  doubtless  exists  in  more.  At  San  Jacinto  there  are 
now  one  hundred  and  five  flowing  wells,  made  by  boring  into  old  river 
beds  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  below  the  present  banks  of  the 
river. 

All  over  the  valley  lands  water  is  easily  found  at  from  ten  to  forty 
feet  in  abundant  supply,  for  windmills  or  other  power,  and  nearly  all 
valleys  have  some  wet  ground  where  irrigation  is  unnecessary  for  any 
purpose.  The  average  depth  of  water  in  wells  is  less  here  than  in  the 
East,  owing  to  the  different  formation  of  the  country.  Irrigation  is  also 
unnecessary  on  nearly  all  the  highest  lands,  and  on  the  highest  rain  belt 
might  be  only  a  detriment  for  most  things.  Many  of  the  lowland  val- 
leys and  slopes  do  Surprisingly  well  with  nothing  but  good  cultivation, 
especially  when  the  subsoil  is  clay  or  red  granite,  which  hold  water  like 
sponges.  On  the  lowlands  generally,  irrigation  is,  however,  necessary  for 
some  things,  and  on  the  mesas  is  needed  for  nearly  everything  except 
grain,  which  is  irrigated  nowhere  south  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley.  As 
a  rule,  whatever  can  be  done  without  irrigation  can  be  far  excelled  by  it, 
provided  it  be  not  done  to  excess  and  be  accompanied  by  thorough  cul- 
tivation. Los  Angeles  County,  where  they  have  practiced  irrigation  and 
cultivation  side  by  side,  combined  and  separate,  for  many  years,  upon  all 
kinds  of  soils,  and  generally  under  abundant  rainfall,  is  the  best  place  to 
study  the  various  applications  of  the  two  systems  of  irrigation  and  culti- 
vation only.  Both  are  invaluable  in  their  way,  but  their  proper  com- 
bination leads  to  the  most  marvelous  results  on  earth. 

It  is  not  always  necessary  that  irrigation  be  continued  all  summer. 
It  is  not  to  keep  things  alive  through  months  of  rainless  weather  that 
irrigation  is  needed  in  California.  There  is  little  trouble  in  doing  that. 
Many  things  need  no  irrigation  later  than  June,  and  many  more  do  well 
enough  with  the  ground  well  wet  down  by  the  middle  of  May.  In  many 
places  where  water  cannot  be  obtained  in  summer  plenty  may  be  had 
in  winter  and  spring,  and  in  many  others  where  a  summer  flow  would 
be  too  expensive  to  maintain,  a  winter  flow  is  easily  and  cheaply  secured. 

A  careful  estimate  made  by  the  writer  places  the  amount  of  land 
irrigable  in  this  county  by  all  systems,  of  both  winter  and  summer  irri- 
gation (except  vertical  and  horizontal  wells  or  tunnels)  at  about  three 
hundred  thousand  acres.  This  supposes  the  first  cost  to  be  not  greater 
than  $50  an  acre.     Generally  it  will  not  exceed  $30  for  the  first  co.st. 


IVA  TER, 


57 


with  an  annual  cost  of  about  $4.00.  The  amount  irrigable  by  wells  and 
tunnels  and  small  dams  can  hardly  be  estimated  at  much  less  ihan  two 
hundred  thousand  acres  more,  as  it  is  solely  a  question  of  expense. 

When  we  recollect  that  the  greater  part  of  the  splendid  ])rosperity 
of  Los  Angeles  County  is  due  to  about  ninety  thousand  acres  of  irri- 
gated land,  it  is  easy  to  see  what  the  future  will  do  for  San  Diego 
County.  And  at  the  ever-increasing  ratio  in  which  ]:)eople  of  wealth, 
weary  of  Eastern  winters,  and  determined  to  have  a  home  in  Southern 
California  at  any  cost,  are  pouring  into  it,  the  develojMiient  of  all  irri- 
gation facilities  is  not  far  ahead.  Thus  far  only  simple  methods  have 
been  used  all  through  South  California.  But  these  have  drawn  about 
all  the  water  obtainable  in  those  ways,  and  the  whole  South  is  about  en- 
tering a  water-development  era  that  will  leave  the  past  in  the  shade. 
When  that  time  is  complete  San  Diego  County  will  stand  in  the  front 
line. 


ijg^  -^^>^i^  ^^^^^^ 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


PRODUCTION. 


,HILE  San  Diego  County  can  raise  almost  anything  as 
well  as  any  other  part  of  the  State  there  are  some 
things  that  it  can  raise  much  better.  It  is  now  con- 
ceded at  Los  Angeles  and  Riverside  that  San  Diego 
County  lemons  lead  their  very  best.  Over  and  over 
again  they  have  taken  the  highest  premiums  at  the 
fairs  of  Los  Angeles  and  Riverside,  a  thing  that 
could  not  be  done  except  by  merit  so  great  as  to 
o\'erride  at  once  all  possible  doubt. 

While  very  few  pears  have  as  yet  been  grown  here 
they  too  lead  the  coast.  The  following  list  of  awards  to  the  Kimball 
Brothers,  of  National  City,  at  the  great  exposition  at  New  Orleans  in 
1884-85,  is  a  judgment  from  which  at  present  there  is  no  appeal.  If  San 
Diego  County  in  its  infancy  can  win  such  a  judgment,  there  will  be  little 
use  in  contesting  it  when  she  is  older. 

No.  2. — Best  collection,  ten  varieties,  oranges  from  any  State  or 
FOREIGN  COUNTRY  IX  THE  WORLD — First  Degree  of  Merit  (Silver 
Medal  and  $50). 

No.  3. — Best  collection,  hfteen  varieties,  grown  in  the  State  of 
California — First  Degree  of  Merit  (Silver  Medal  and  $75). 

No.  4. — Best  collection,  ten  varieties,  oranges  grown  in  the  State 
OF  California — First  Degree  of  Merit  (Silver  Medal  and  $50). 

No.  5. — Best  collection,  five  varieties  oranges  grown  in  the  State 
of  California — First  Degree  of  Merit  (Silver  Medal  and  $25). 

No.  6. — Best  General  Exhibit  of  Citrus  Fruits,  other  than  oranges 
from  THE  State  of  California — First  Degree  of  Merit  (Silver  Medal 
and  $50). 

No.  7. — Best  orange,  "  Acapulco" — First  Degree  of  Merit  and  $5. 
No.  8. — Best  orange,  "  Creole"— ^First  Degree  of  Merit  and  $5. 
No.  9. — Best  orange,  "  Malise  Oval,"  $5. 

''  Osceola" — First  Degree  of  Merit  and  $5. 
"St.    Michael's" — First  Degree   of  Merit 


No. 

No. 
and  $5. 

No. 
Merit  and 


10. 
II. 


-Best  orange, 
-Best   orange. 


12. — Best  orange,    "St.    Michael's    Egg" — First   Degree   of 


(58) 


pRonrci'iox.  59 

No.  13. — Best  lemon,  "  Eureka  " — First  Dej^ree  of  Merit  and  ;>5. 

No.  14. — Best  lime,  "  ( iiant  Seedling-" — First  Degree  of  Merit 
and  $5. 

No.  15. — Best  collection,  five  varieties,  pears  grown  within  tht- 
limits  of  Pacific  District — First  Degree  of  Merit  and  $15. 

No.  16. — Best  i)late  of  any  variety  pears  grown  in  Pacific  District — 
First  Degree  of  Merit  and  $10. 

No.  18. — Best  "  Hacheya  "  Japan  PersimnKjns  grown  in  the  United 
States — First  Degree  of  Merit  and  "pio. 

The  first  fourteen  First  Premiums  were  awarded  to  Kimball  Brothers. 
The  last  four  First  Premiums  were  awarded  to  Frank  A.  Kimball.  There 
are  fully  two  hundred  thousand  acres  in  this  county  upon  which  lemons 
and  oranges  fully  equal  to  these  can  be  raised,  and  in  many  places  even 
better  ones  are  possible,  and  even  on  the  National  Rancho  the  best  lands 
are  not  yet  planted. 

Had  the  apricots  or  raisin  grapes  of  the  county  been  in  season  so 
as  to  be  on  exhibition  they  too  would  have  walked  off  with  all  the  prizes. 
The  apricots  especially  are  so  much  superior  in  flavor  to  those  of  the 
North  that  no  locality  now  j^rctends  to  question  their  eminence,  while 
the  raisins  of  El  Cajon,  the  Sweetwater  Valley  and  other  places  have 
been  pronounced  by  the  best  judges  the  best  in  the  world.  And  there 
are  thousands  of  acres  in  e\er}'  direction  where  equally  good  ones  can 
be  raised. 

Apples,  peaches,  and  plums  fully  equal  to  those  of  the  North  are 
grown  along  the  lowlands  here;  but  those  of  the  mountains  excel  those 
of  the  coast.  The  same  is  the  case  with  all  berries  and  small  fruits. 
Most  of  these  can  be  grown  nearly  to  perfection  on  the  lowlands  but  in 
the  mountains  all  that  can  stand  hea\^y  frosts  reach  their  fullest  excel- 
lence. Cherries,  raspberries,  blackberries,  gooseberries,  currants, 
strawberries,  etc.,  can  all  be  seen  at  Mesa  Grande  bearing  in  abundance 
large  fruit  of  the  finest  flavor,  and  without  irrigation.  The  same  is  done 
at  Julian  and  can  be  done  as  low  down  as  Santa  Maria  and  Bear  \'alley. 
The  superiority  of  nearly  all  deciduous  fruits  and  \egetables  grown  in 
these  mountains  will  in  time  make  them  extremely  valuable;  for  the 
wealthy  Californian  is  the  spoiled  child  of  luxury  and  will  have  the  best, 
cost  what  it  may. 

All  sorts  of  fancy  fruits  grt)w  in  this  county  to  the  finest  stage  of  ex- 
cellence: the  guavas,  the  Japanese  persimmon,  the  pomegranate,  and  a 
score  of  others.  Some  of  these,  like  the  gua\a.  will  soon  have  a  com- 
mercial value  for  jelly  or  canning,  while  others,  like  the  Japanese  per- 
simmons. Japanese  plums,  etc.,  will  always  be  an  excellent  addition  to 
the  list  of  table  fruits.  The  almond  is  not  a  prolific  bearer  anywhere  in 
the  South,  though  otherwise  a  beautiful  tree;  but  the  English  walnut 
has  done  marvelously  well  at  Agua  Tibia,  El   Cajon,  and   other  places 


6o  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

where  it  has  been  tried,  while  all  varieties  of  fig  trees  hang  full  of  ex- 
cellent fruit  and  often  do  so  without  irrigation,  cultivation,  or  any  care. 
Like  the  fig,  the  olive  thrives  almost  anywhere  on  the  lowlands  without 
care  or  water,  though  like  the  fig  and  everything  else  it  will  do  better 
with  both.  Peaches  also  do  very  well,  though  those  of  the  mountains 
are  much  the  best  as  well  as  the  most  prolific. 

Fancy  trees,  bushes,  shrubbery,  flowers  of  all  varieties,  the  camphor 
tree,  rubber  tree,  banana,  palms,  and  a  thousand  other  things  seen  only 
in  green-houses  in  the  East,  grow  here  with  little  or  no  trouble,  though 
such  things  as  the  banana  recjuire  a  place  quite  free  from  frost,  and  also 
from  wind. 

Most  kind  of  vegetables  grow  in  winter  and  many  kinds,  such  as 
peas,  turnips,  onions,  beets,  cabbage,  carrots  and  cauliflower  then  grow 
the  best.  The  tomato,  if  planted  above  the  frost  belt,  becomes  a  peren- 
nial, growing  year  after  year,  climbing  often  over  a  small  house  and 
bearing  the  year  round.  Melons,  beans,  corn,  ^^'g  plant,  and  similar 
tender  things  must  generally  be  grown  in  summer;  for  though  they  may 
live  in  winter  the  nights  are  too  cool  to  allow  them  to  thrive.  But  other 
tender  plants  like  the  potato  are  raised  in  the  dead  of  winter  if  planted 
on  slopes  or  mesas  above  the  frost  line  of  the  valleys.  Many  ])roducts 
have  not  yet  been  tried  and  the  capabilities  of  the  land  are  not  yet  half 
known.  Nor  will  they  be  for  many  a  day,  because  it  by  no  means  fol- 
lows that  if  a  plant  fails  in  a  certain  kind  of  soil,  or  at  a  certain  elevation, 
or  at  a  certain  distance  from  the  coast,  it  will  fail  anywhere  else. 

Some  fruits  here  bear  ripe  fruit  all  the  year,  like  the  tomato  and 
lemon.  Others  half  the-  year,  like  the  strawberry  when  well  treated, 
though  the  strawberry  ma}'  bear  a  little  all  the  year  round.  But  most 
things  have  their  regular  seasons  as  in  the  East,  though  it  is  often  much 
longer,  as  with  grapes,  melons,  etc. 

There  are  now  growing  in  the  county  according  to  the  latest  returns 
of  the  assessor:  58,208  lemon  trees,  102,013  orange,  51,571  olive,  35,- 
086  apple,  26,849  pear,  30,918  peach,  3,595  quince,  72,719  fig,  3,317 
prune,  2,359  cherry,  1,217  nectarine,  4,254  plum,  93,572  apricot. 

San  Diego  County  has  shipped  in  one  season  the  enormous  quan- 
tity of  two  million  seventy-five  thousand  pounds  of  honey.  Immense 
shipments  of  wool,  wheat,  cattle,  hides,  etc.,  have  been  made  in  the 
past;  but  the  day  for  all  such  things  is  over  except  as  mere  accessories 
to  other  things.  The  whole  county  is  being  fast  devoted,  like  the  rest 
of  Southern  California,  to  more  profitable  and  pleasant  industries  and  the 
making  of  luxurious  holies. 

The  reader  may  be  surprised  at  the  small  amount  of  arable  land  in 
the  county  in  proportion  to  its  whole  extent.  An  Eastern  State  or 
county  having  such  a  great  amount  of  untillable  land  would  generally 
be  pronounced  very  poor.     Yet  San  BernardiiiO  County  is,  in  this  re- 


PlERCE-MOKSE    EUILDINT.,    SaN    DIEGO,    CaI., 


PRODUCriON.  6t 

spect,  far  worse  than  San  Diet^o  County.  Santa  Barbara  and  Wntura 
are  no  better,  and  Los  Angeles  County,  with  all  its  wealth,  is  almost  as 
bad. 

The  name  "Southern  California,"  or  "South  California,"  is  now 
generally  limited  to  the  three  lower  counties.  The.se  embrace  nearly  all 
the  choice  fruit  belts  and  finest  climates,  and  all  the  other  advantages 
which  are  now  drawing  such  a  stream  of  wealthy  settlers.  Yet  these 
three  counties,  with  an  acreage  of  about  twenty-seven  million  acres,  can- 
not muster  much  over  two  million  acres  which  from  present  standpoints 
can  be  fairly  called  tillable. 

But  what  a  two  million  they  are!  Nowhere  else  does  the  sun  shine 
upon  their  like;  and  nothing  approaching  them  lies  outside  of  Califor- 
nia. Fifteen  years  ago  fully  one-half  of  these  Avas  considered  almost 
worthless  except  for  stock  range.  To-day  that  half  is  far  more  valuable 
than  the  other,  and  the  most  readily  saleable  at  from  three  to  five  times 
the  price  the  other  half  will  bring.  A  land  where  such  a  change  of 
values  could  be  so  sudden  and  so  great  is  certainly  beyond  any  ordinary- 
standard  of  value.  It  erects  its  own  standard,  and  compels  all  old-time 
political  economy  and  business  principles  to  bow  to  it.  There  is  but 
one  South  California  on  earth;  a  residence  there  is  a  luxury.  The 
amount  of  its  land  is  limited;  people  will  have  it;  therefore  it  commands 
the  price  of  a  luxury  and  not  of  mere  farming  or  garden  land.  It  is 
quite  useless  to  quarrel  with  these  prices,  to  repeat  the  ancient  joke 
about  buving  climate  with  the  land  thrown  in.  It  is  quite  immaterial 
whether  it  is  the  climate  or  the  land.  The  prices  are  nevertheless  paid, 
and  the  stream  of  climate-seekers  keeps  increasing.  The  rich  refugees 
have  been  coming  so  long  in  such  constantly  increasing  force,  so  many 
of  them  are  delighted  with  the  land,  buy,  build,  and  do  all  they  can  to 
induce  their  friends  to  do  the  same,  that  climate  now  forms  a  solid  basis 
of  values  with  the  advantage  of  being  quite  unchangeable  except  by  some 
grand  convulsion  of  nature.  Such  climate  beneath  the  flag  of  the  United 
States  is  an  article  whose  supi)ly  is  limited  yet  with  an  ever-increasing 
demand.  Those  who  are  fast  building  towns  on  lately  bare  plains,  and 
perching  fine  houses  on  slopes  and  mesas  that  nobody  would  ha\e  a 
few  vears  ago,  have  come  here  mainly  for  climate.  The  soil  and  its 
capabilities  are  of  secondary  importance.  If  a  beautiful  place  under  a 
fine  climate  can  be  made  profitable,  so  much  the  better;  but  if  it  cannot, 
no  matter;  the  residence  and  its  climate  must  be  had. 

Two  consequences  necessarily  arise  from  this  kind  of  settlement: 
First,  higher  prices  than  the  land  might  seem  to  justify  as  mere  farming 
or  gardening  land;  second,  a  large  amount  of  production,  often  experi- 
mental, often  fancy  and  even  extravagant,  wliich  is  of  course  unprofita- 
ble. From  this  a  visitor  too  often  infers  that  the  prices  of  land  are  too 
much  inflated,  and  that  all  production  is  necessarily  expensive. 


62  CITY  AND   COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

The  limited  amount  of  land,  and  the  steadily  increasing  demand  for 
it,  sufficiently  settle  the  question  of  inflation.  If  such  conditions  do  not 
create  value  there  is  no  such  thing  as  intrinsic  value,  and  every  \'alue 
rests  only  upon  fancy. 

While  farming  and  fruit  raising  often  cost  a  little  more  than  in  some 
parts  of  the  East,  they  cannot  be  called  expensive,  and  certainly  are 
profitable,  where  conducted  on  any  business  principles.  So  many  ex- 
periments have  had  to  be  made,  and  so  much  trouble  has  been  had  with 
transportation  facilities,  commission  merchants,  and  various  other  things, 
that  production  has  not  always  been  profitable  in  the  past.  But  a  great 
change  has  of  late  taken  place.  Until  three  years  ago  not  an  orange  from 
California  went  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Railroads  suddenly  con- 
cluded that  living  rates  were  better  than  prohibitory  rates,  and  a  reduc- 
tion started  shipments.  In  1885  twelve  hundred  car  loads  found  a  ready 
and  paying  market  from  St.  Paul  to  St.  Louis,  and  far  to  the  east  of 
both.  In  1886  the  shipment  has  been  far  greater,  and  regular  fruit 
trains  are  now  run  on  express  time  to  the  East.  Before  this  the  only 
market  was  San  Francisco,  which  of  course  was  easily  glutted.  More- 
over, the  finer  varieties  of  oranges  had  not  been  long  enough  planted  to 
produce  much,  and  the  proper  mode  of  cultivating  even  the  old  trees 
had  but  just  been  discovered.  It  was  much  the  same  with  lemon  grow- 
ing, with  the  additional  disadvantage  of  not  knowing  how  to  preserve 
lemons  until  the  foreign  lemons  were  out  of  the  Eastern  market — a  thing 
just  discovered  within  two  years  and  now  a  complete  success.  Raisin- 
growing  has  gone  through  much  the  same  stages.  Growers  had  to 
learn  how  to  prune,  to  irrigate,  to  cultivate,  to  pick,  to  pack,  to  label  and  to 
market,  and  had  to  learn  it  all  from  their  own  experience.  Few  people 
have  ever  learned  so  rapidly  as  the  fruit-growers  of  Southern  California, 
and  although  some  things  remain  to  be  known,  four-fifths  of  the  work  is 
done.  In  growing,  picking,  packing,  selling,  etc. ,  as  well  as  canning,  wine- 
making,  drying,  or  curing  of  any  kind,  the  present  now  has  the  experi- 
ence of  the  past  without  the  expense  of  the  education;  and  the  orchards 
and  vineyards  of  Southern  California  are  now  among  the  most  profitable 
of  the  world,  the  yield  of  many  of  the  older  ones  now  almost  surpassing 
belief  Space  will  permit  no  tables  of  estimates  of  profits.  They  can  be 
found  in  a  hundred  immigration  documents,  and  if  the  reader  will  take 
the  pains  to  annex  qualifications,  which  a  moderate  amount  of  experience 
and  common  sense  will  readily  suggest,  he  cannot  be  misled  by  them. 
The  most  extravagant  of  them  is  generally  literally  true,  but  may  repre- 
sent especially  favorable  conditions.  All  of  them  represent  work  and 
sound  business  principles,  to  which  they  are  generally  due  more  than  to 
peculiar  conditions.  You  will  find  no  land  where  work  is  more  indis- 
pensable to  success  than  here,  and  none  where  it  will  bring  the  same 
heaping  measure  of  results.     Where  you  see  unprofitable  farming  or 


PRODUCTION.     ,  63 

fruit-raising'  you  will  nearly  always  find  a  man  who  came  to  California  to 
make  money  without  work,  or  who,  having  means  to  hire  labor,  has 
plunged  into  some  new  thing  on  too  large  a  scale  instead  of  feeling  his 
way,  or  who,  loaded  with  Eastern  conceit,  has  disregarded  the  experi- 
ence of  others,  or  one  who  has  run  a  ranch  as  a  baby  would  run  a  candy 
shop. 

Ordinary  farming  is  in  such  a  transition  state,  so  many  of  the  effects 
of  the  old  systems  still  remain,  that  a  new-comer  who  is  not  careful  in 
his  observations  may  get  very  wrong  impressions.  The  great  effort  of 
the  old-time  farmer  was  to  make  money  at  farming;  not  a  li\ing  with  a 
little  money  over,  as  most  successful  farmers  do  the  world  over,  but 
money,  and  plenty  of  it.  And  this  was,  of  course,  to  be  done  with  the 
least  possible  amount  of  work.  There  can  be  but  one  result  of  such 
farming  anywhere.  This  State  is  no  exception  to  the  stern  laws  of 
nature.  On  the  other  hand  there  is  no  State  where  the  four  first  requi- 
sites of  successful  farming, — diversification  of  products,  hard  work,  close 
economy,  and  strict  attention, — produce  more  certain  or  fuller  results. 
Nowhere  else  will  the  same  acreage  produce  such  a  variety  and  quantity 
as  on  the  irrigated  lands  of  Southern  California.  Even  where  the  whole 
tract  cannot  be  irrigated  fine  results  can  be  secured.  Ten  acres  of  land 
with  the  water  that  an  inch-and-a-half  pipe  will  carry  from  a  stream, 
spring,  or  ditch,  and  the  work  that  a  successful  gardener  in  the  East  puts 
upon  ten  acres  will,  with  thirty  acres  of  dry  land  outside,  not  only  sup- 
port a  family,  but  leave  more  money  over  than  the  best  one-hundred- 
and-sixty  acre  farm  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Three  acres  in  alfalfa, 
well  irrigated,  will  keep  two  milch  cows,  a  dozen  hogs,  and  a  score  of 
chickens  the  year  round,  with  all  their  increase.  Half  an  acre  more  will 
raise  all  the-vegetables  a  large  family  can  use  in  a  year,  while  the  rest  in 
raisin  grapes,  fine  oranges,  or  a  dozen  other  varieties  of  fruits,  will  yield 
a  fair  income.  On  dry  lands  outside  of  this,  thorough  plowing  with  irri- 
gation will  raise  plenty  of  the  best  hay,  which  is  made  of  grain  cut  in  the 
dough  or  milk;  also  olives,  apricots,  wine  grapes,  figs,  and  many  other 
things  that  bear  well  with  cultivation  alone.  Irrigation  will,  of  course, 
improve  the  yield  of  all  such  fruits,  especially  in  some  years,  but  very 
little  water  is  needed  and  fair  results  may  be  had  without  any.  Many 
things  that  are  sure  to  be  profitable  in  the  future  are  \-ery  easily  raised. 
The  olive,  for  instance,  grows  on  dry  land  with  \ery  little  attention,  is 
a  hardy,  prolific,  and  steady  bearer,  and  outlives  its  owner's  family. 
As  soon  as  enough  are  grown  in  the  vicinity  to  supply  an  oil  press  the 
profits  are  large  and  constant.  Pickled  when  ripe  they  form  an  article 
of  food  which  the  whole  family  soon  learns  to  like,  as  substantial  as  po- 
tatoes, and  infinitely  better  to  the  taste  than  the  foreigii  olives,  which 
are  pickled  green  to  preserve  a  stvlish  color.  It  is  a  tree  whose  value 
is  daily  becoming  more  striking;  and  as  a  standby  for  the  future,  as  a 


64  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

thing  to  work  in  with  other  products  with  scarcely  any  trouble,  and  to 
use  unirrigable  lands,  its  value  in  the  future  can  scarcely  be  estimated. 

To  run  through  the  list  of  trees,  vegetables,  grains,  and  berries  that 
can  be  grown  here  with  their  special  modes  of  cultivation  and  their 
profits  would  take  a  volume.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  about  everything  can 
be  raised  in  San  Diego  County  that  can  be  grown  in  the  temperate  zone 
at  all,  with  many  of  the  best  products  of  the  tropics.  The  profits  will 
depend  upon  the  industry,  attention,  and  business  capacity  of  the  pro- 
ducer. 

Many  things  outside  of  common  farming  and  fruit-growing  have 
been  raised  at  great  profit  in  San  Diego  County,  and  many  of  them  may 
still  be  raised  to  advantage  in  connection  with  other  things.  In  nearly  . 
all  parts  of  the  county  there  is  an  abundance  of  bee  pasture.  Apiaries 
need  little  or  no  care  except  during  working  time,  and  in  most  years  are 
very  productive.  Abundance  of  stock  range,  generally  public  land,  lies 
outside  of  most  of  the  arable  tracts,  and  is  used  by  many  to  keep  a  few 
head  of  stock,  which  can  be  done  with  very  little  trouble.  Abundance 
of  goat  pasture  lies  on  the  hills,  which  are  easily  fenced  in,  and  a  cross  of 
the  Angora  with  the  common  goat  makes  excellent  meat.  Large  num- 
bers of  sheep  have  been  raised  at  a  good  profit,  but  raising  them  on  a 
small  "scale,  as  in  the  East,  has  not  yet  been  attempted.  It  can,  however, 
be  done  much  better  here,  as  it  is  never  necessary  to  protect  sheep  from 
the  weather,  and  they  thrive  well  upon  the  nati\'e  grasses  and  are  easily 
fenced  in.  There  is  no  better  country  for  raising  hogs  and  chickens, 
none  where  they  pay  any  better  when  half  cared  for,  and  none  where 
they  can  find  more  feed  for  themselves.  Hogs  can  be  raised  well  upon 
alfalfa  hay  and  will  harvest  a  stubble-field  until  the  last  head  of  grain  is 
gleaned. 

The  farmer  here  has  many  advantages  over  the  Eastern  farmer. 
He  needs  no  out-buildings  except  a  roof  for  his  horses  and  cover  for  his 
wagon  and  machinery,  more  to  protect  it  from  the  sun  than  from  the 
rains.  Grain  stands  ripe  for  months  with  no  danger  of  sprouting, 
moulding,  falling,  or  shelling,  safe  from,  rain,  hail,  wind-storms  or  light- 
ning. The  farmer  needs  little  fire  wood  except  for  cooking,  has  no 
"  fall  work"  to  do,  no  winter  to  get  ready  for,  except  to  plow  and  sow. 
He  has  twice  the  amount  of  fair  weather  in  which  to  work  that  the  East- 
ern farmer  has,  and  need  never  work  from  daylight  to  dark  in  hot 
weather  to  get  his  hay  or  other  crops  out  of  danger  of  rain.  If  he  will 
only  work  well  and  work  steadily,  and  not  put  off  things  for  days  be- 
cause there  is  plenty  of  fine  weather  ahead,  he  will  have  more  and  better  , 
food  to  eat,  a  better  home,  and  more  money  to  spend  in  luxuries,  with 
much  less  actual  work  and  less  worry  than  the  farmer  in  any  other  coun- 
try. 

The  great  and  overwhelming  advantage,  however,  that  San  Diego 


PRODUCTION.  65 

County  now  has  for  one  who  is  deterniiiic-d  to  Hve  in  South  CaHfornia, 
is  the  very  low  price  of  land  amipared  with  prices  farther  north.  Es- 
pecially is  this  true  of  irrigable  lands.  Thousands  of  acres  of  land  ex- 
actly like  that  which  at  Riverside  brings,  with  a  water  right,  $600  an 
acre,  unimproved,  and  at  Pasadena  $1,500  an  acre,  maybe  had  here  for 
one-third  of  those  sums.  The  mountain  lands  too,  and  the  moist  valley 
lands  that  need  little  or  no  irrigation,  are  far  cheaper  than  elsewhere. 
This  difference  in  price  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  late  opening 
of  the  lands  to  settlement,  and  of  course  it  is  a  difference  that  cannot  last 
long. 

Prices  of  land  in  this  county  vary  so  with  locality,  rainfall,  and  irri- 
gation facilities,  that  it  is  quite  useless  to  attempt  to  give  any  scales. 
Plenty  of  fine  land  may  yet  be  had  at  $50,  and  in  the  mountains  the 
surest  land  in  the  world  for  crops  may  be  had  for  $20  to  $40,  and  e\-en 
as  low  as  $10  in  remote  places. 

The  experience  of  the  last  ten  years  shows  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  fall  in  prices  of  good,  irrigable  land  in  Southern  California. 
Town  lots  may  possibly  shrink  even  in  a  growing  city  as  they  do  else- 
where in  growing  cities,  but  the  price  of  good  fruit  land  and  fine  resi- 
dence property  is  steadily  upward.  This  results  necessarily  from  the 
steadily  increasing  demand  and  the  limited  supply.  Town  lots  in  abun- 
dance can  be  laid  out  for  years  to  come,  but  the  acres  that  make  beauti- 
ful places,  surrounded  with  varied  and  luxuriant  vegetation,  and  the  acres 
that  yield  the  enormous  crops  of  the  world's  finest  fruits,  are  rapidly 
,L;oing  and  cannot  be  replaced. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


THE  CLIMATE. 

AN  DIEGO  COUNTY  bears  the  same  relation  to  Califor- 
nia that  California  does  to  the  United  States,  being  a 
land  of  climates  within  a  land  of  climates.  Almost  side 
by  side  lie  nearly  all  the  varieties  that  distance  from  the 
coast,  elevation  above  the  sea,  elevation  above  valleys, 
mountain  inclosure  or  open  exposure,  combined  with 
almost  constant  sunshine,  can  make.  In  winter  the 
tender  banana  ripens  its  fruit,  and  people  bathe  but 
forty-five  miles  from  where  the  snow  often  lies  ten  feet 
deep  in  the  dark  fringe  of  pines  in  the  eastern  sky;  and 
the  sun  shines  bright  but  twenty  miles  from  where  the 
sky  is  dark  with  clouds  that  shed  more  rain  and  snow 
than  is  generally  seen  in  the  Eastern  States. 

It  is  unanimously  conceded  by  its  most  envious  neigh- 
bors on  the  north  that  this  county  has  the  best  climate  of  the  State. 
This  is  not  caused  by  its  more  southern  position  alone,  but  also  by  the 
wide  inward  sweep  of  the  coast  to  the  east.  The  effect  of  this,  which 
gives  Santa  Barbara  such  a  different  climate  from  that  of  San  Francisco, 
is  continued  to  the  lower  line  of  the  State,  giving  San  Diego  County  the 
same  advantage  over  Los  Angeles  County  that  Los  Angeles  County  has 
over  Santa  Barbara  County.  A  much  less  rainfall  along  the  coast  and 
a  far  greater  number  of  clear  days  in  winter  is  an  important  result  of 
this,  but  is  by  no  means  the  most  important.  Without  perceptibly  in- 
creasing the  heat  of  summer  it  removes  the  land  farther  from  the  influ- 
ence of  the  cold  ocean  current  that,  coming  down  the  northern  shore, 
makes  the  summer  wind  so  cold  at  San  Francisro,  and  causes  the  hea\'y 
fogs  that  hang  along  the  upper  coast.  What  is  left  of  that  current 
passes  San  Diego  far  out  at  sea,  just  near  enough  to  cool  off  the  hot  air 
flowing  over  westward  in  an  upper  current  from  the  Colorado  desert, 
and  send  it  back  in  an  under  current  just  cool  enough  for  comfort  and 
drier  than  the  land  breezes  of  the  Atlantic  Coast.  What  few  fogs  there 
are — and  there  is  scarcely  any  sea-coast  without  some — come  at  night, 
and  generally  vanish  with   the  first  burst  of  sunlight  over  the  eastern 

(66) 


THE  CLIMATE.  67 

mountains,  while  the  sea  breeze  has  little  of  the  dampness  ot  tnai  of  the 
upper  coast.  The  effect  of  this  is  seen  at  once  in  the  growing  of  some 
kinds  of  fruit.  Even  in  Los  Angeles  County  good  oranges  and  lemons 
cannot  be  grown  within  ten  or  twelve  miles  of  the  coast.  But  the 
oranges  and  lemons  that  swept  away  so  many  prizes  at  the  New  Orleans 
ILxposition  were  grown  within  six  miles  of  San  Diego  Bay,  and  many  of 
tliem  within  half  a  mile  of  it;  the  only  exception  being  a  few  which  were 
i^rown  about  fifteen  miles  back,  between  the  Janal  and  Jamul.  Within 
half  a  mile  of  the  bay  at  National  City  may  be  seen  groves  of  olives  as 
clear  and  bright  as  in  the  interior,  which  only  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  north  would  be  half  black  with  scale  caused  by  the  dampness  of 
the  sea. 

Subject  to  these  modifications  in  its  favor  and  to  special  modifica- 
tions caused  by  altitudes,  etc. ,  as  before  explained,  the  climate  of  San 
Diego  County  is  that  of  Southern  California  in  general,  of  which  the  main 
characteristics  are: — 

1st.   Warm  winters. 

2d.   Dry  summers. 

3d.  Cooler  summers  than  are  found  elsewhere  on  the  same  lati- 
tude, and,  on  account  of  the  unfailing  sea  breeze,  summers  much  more 
comfortable  than  can  be  found  on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  even  of  the  Middle 
States. 

4th.  An  atmosphere  much  drier  in  winter  than  is  found  in  sum- 
mer on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  and  as  dry  in  summer  as  is  consistent  with  a 
good  growth  of  vegetation. 

5th.  Absolute  freedom  from  malaria  of  any  kind  except  where  lo- 
cally caused  by  excessive  irrigation  or  foul  cities. 

6th.  Absolute  frejedom  from  cyclones,  tornadoes,  or  dangerous 
winds  of  any  kind;  and  entire  freedom  from  lightning,  thunder-storms, 
and  cloud-bursts,  except  occasionally  upon  the  deserts  and  highest 
mountains. 

7th.  A  climate  where  many  children's  complaints,  such  as  the 
bowel  complaint  of  the  dreaded  "second  summer,"  are  quite  unknown, 
and  nearly  all  others,  such  as  measles,  scarlet  fever,  etc.,  are  \-ery  rare 
and  very  much  modified. 

8th.  A  remarkable  freedom  from  insect  pests  of  all  kinds,  except 
where  locally  caused,  as  mosquitoes  around  open  water-tanks  or  fleas 
around  ill-kept  places. 

9th.  Cool  nights  in  summer,  caused  by  the  rapid  radiation  of  heat 
from  the  earth  through  the  dry  air. 

loth.  Warm  days  in  winter  from  the  opposite  cause — the  more 
rapid  transmission  of  the  heat  rays  through  dry  air. 

Tables  of  temperature  as  generally  used  to  show  what  the  climate 
is  give  little  idea  of  the  winter  weather  of  Southern  California.     Neither 


68  CIT  Y  A  ND  COUNTY  O  F  SA  N  D I  EG  ( ). 

average  temperatures  nor  the  lowest  ones  are  of  much  use.  There  is 
here  no  such  thing  as  a  "cold  snap"  such  as  is  known  in  Florida. 
There  it  is  the  edge  of  a  "  polar  wave' '  from  the  north  and  it  may  freeze 
all  day.  Here  a  "  cold  snap  "  is  only  a  series  of  unusually  cold  nights 
caused  by  dry  winds  from  the  desert.  The  percentage  of  moisture  in 
these  winds  runs  as  low  as  five  per  cent  and  the  earth's  loss  of  heat 
through  air  so  dry  is  necessarily  very  rapid.  When  these  winds  come 
at  the  time  when  the  nights  are  the  longest,  and  especially  when  the 
high  mountains  through  whose  passes  they  come  are  clad  in  snow,  the 
long  continuance  of  the  rapid  radiation  may  lower  the  temperature  a  few 
degrees  below  the  freezing  point.  But  this  will  happen  only  in  the  two 
or  three  hours  before  sunrise.  Then  the  reverse  process- begins  and  the 
sunlight  falling  through  the  dry  air  raises  it  to  a  pleasant  temperature  in 
two  hours.  Cold  weather  therefore  on  the  lowlands  can  happen  only  at 
night  and  only  on  a  r/^ar  night.  In  such  case  the  succeeding  day  is 
sure  to  be  clear  and  consequently  warm.  This  daylight  temperature, 
however,  is  subject  to  a  great  modification  which  tables  of  temperature 
never  show.  It  is  only  in  the  bottom  of  valleys  or  on  great  plains  sur- 
rounded by  mountains  that  it  thus  falls.  On  nearly  all  the  high  slopes 
around  the  valleys  and  plains,  and  on  all  elevated  table-lands  along  the 
coast,  the  temperature  will  be  at  daylight  from  ten  to  twenty-five  degrees 
higher  than  it  will  be  one  hundred  or  two  hundred  feet  below,  there 
being  a  warm  belt  which  is  much  less  affected  by  radiation,  the  loss  of 
heat  being  largely  supplied  jn  some  way  not  yet  fully  understood. 
Here  even  a  white  frost  is  generally  unknown  while  freezes  and  spring 
frosts  are  quite  impossible. 

Winter  being  in  California  called  "  the  rainy  season  "  an  impression 
goes  abroad  that  it  is  a  season  of  rain.  It  is  quite  the  contrary.  From 
first  to  last  rain,  a  period  of  about  six  months,  the  number  of  clear  and 
fair  days  always  exceeds  that  of  an  equal  period  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  whether  taken  in  winter  or  summer.  Too  often  there  is  not  rain 
enough  on  the  lowlands  for  a  full  growth  of  grass  or  grain,  and  not  more 
than  once  in  twenty  years  is  there  too  much.  Government  tables  of 
rainfall  generally  count  as  "rainy"  all  days  on  which  rain  falls,  whether 
the  fall  be  by  day  or  night.  Fully  three-fourths  of  the  rainfall  is  at  night 
and  on  the  lower  rain  belts  is  almo.st  in\'ariably  followed  by  fair  or  half 
clear  days,  sometimes  having  occasional  light  showers,  but  generally 
half  clear  until  sundown,  when  the  sky  again  closes  in  for  work.  So 
that  winter,  instead  of  being  a  season  of  rain,  is  merely  the  season  when 
it  may  rain,  as  distinguished  from  the  six  months  when  it  is  quite  certain 
not  to  rain  enough  to  speak  of. 

The  noon  temperature  of  the  clear  days  in  winter  is  generally  from 
sixty  to  seventy  degrees  on  the  coast  and  from  sixty-five  to  eighty 
degrees  in  the  interior.     The  noon  temperature  of  the  rainy  days  is 


II 


THE  CLIMATE.  69 

about  the  same  in  both  places,  from  fifty-five  to  sixty-five  degrees,  gen- 
erally about  sixty,  with  little  or  no  fall  of  the  mercury  during  the  night 
unless  the  sky  clears.  The  lowest  midday  temperature  recorded  at  the 
United  States  Signal  Station  at  San  Diego  during  eight  years  is  fifty-one 
degrees,  and  this  but  once.  In  those  eight  years  there  were  but  twenty- 
one  days  when  the  temperature  at  noon  was  not  above  fifty-five  degrees. 
During  that  time  there  ha\e  been  but  six  days  when  it  was  lower  than 
thirty-six  degrees  at  any  time  of  the  night,  and  but  two  when  it  reached 
thirty-two  degrees,  the  lowest  point  ever  reached  there.  On  one  of 
these  two  days  the  mercury  rose  to  fifty-one  degrees  at  noon  and  on  the 
other  to  fifty-six.  This  was  in  the  great  "cold  snap"  of  December,  1879. 
One  hundred  feet  higher  up  the  slope  from  where  this  record  was  taken 
it  would  not  have  been  lower  than  forty  degrees  at  the  lowest  point; 
while  on  the  mesa  eight  miles  back  of  town  and  five  hundred  feet  above 
the  bay  and  the  surrounding  valleys,  it  would  have  been  about  forty-fi\'e 
degrees  at  daylight  and  seventy  degrees  at  noon. 

"  If  the  winters  are  so  warm  what  must  the  summers  be  ?  "  remarks 
Old  Wisdom  sweltering  under  the  damp  air  of  the  East. 

"  I'd  like  to  come  and  see  you  but  it's  as  hot  here  as  I  can  stand." 
wrote  a  very  intelligent  gentleman  in  St.  Louis  during  the  hot  spell  there 
last  July  to  a  friend  in  San  Diego. 

Such  ignorance  is  quite  natural.  The  writer  himself  moved  here 
only  for  the  winters,  expecting  to  pay  a  fearful  price  for  the  luxury  when 
summer  came.  Nothing  in  California  surprised  him  so  much  as  the 
summers  of  San  Diego  County,  and  if  he  had  to  spend  three  months 
East  he  would  take  the  winter  for  the  trip  rather  than  the  summer,  so 
far  as  mere  exchange  of  comfort  is  concerned.  The  reason  is  quite 
simple.  The  cool  ocean  current  that  makes  San  Francisco  uncomforta- 
bly cold  in  summer,  makes  this  far  southern  coast  comfortably  cool. 
Sixty  miles  from  the  sea  just  over  the  high  mountain  range  lies  the  great 
basin  of  the  Colorado  desert,  with  its  eight  thousand  square  miles  of 
fiery  sand  sending  aloft,  under  an  almost  eternal  sun,  a  daily  column  of 
hot  air  containing  scarcely  five  per  cent  of  moisture.  This  cannot  flow 
over  upon  Arizona;  for  these  is  a  rising  column  of  air  quite  as  hot  and 
much  larger;  nor  on  the  north,  for  there  the  great  Moja\e  Desert  of  San 
Bernardino  and  Los  Angeles  Counties  has  the  same  effect.  Nor  can  it 
flow  out  on  the  Gulf  of  California,  for  it  is  too  narrow  to  receive  all  that 
hot  air  with  that  of  Sonora  and  the  west  side  of  the  peninsula  of  Lower 
California  coming  in  before  it.  It  must  flow  out  over  some  cooler 
stratum  of  air  and  this  is  found  in  any  considerable  extent  only  on  the 
west.  Over  it  goes  in  a  vast  upper  current  toward  the  sea,  causing  by 
its  rising  a  suction  equallv  great  below.  Once  o\er  the  cool  .surface  of 
the  sea  it  loses  its  heat  and  quickly  descends  to  return  in  an  under  cur- 
rent to  supply  the  place  of  the  air  still  rising  from  the  desert  and  the 


70  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

western  slope  of  the  land.  Hence  the  sea  breeze  is  here  no  sea  wind 
laden  with  moisture.  It  is  a  dry  breeze  partly  moistened  close  to  the 
coast  by  its  contact  with  the  sea  but  drier  above.  A  few  miles  inland 
the  upper  and  drier  strata  become  more  mingled  with  the  others,  and 
the  consequence  is  an  air  so  dry  that  strips  of  meat  two  inches  thick 
hun^-  up  in  the  breeze  quickly  cure  without  either  salt  or  smoke.  Even 
on  the  coast  there  are  no  damp  walls,  damp  bed-clothing,  rusting  of 
guns,  etc.,  as  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  thick  strips  of  meat  and  fish 
will  cure  in  the  air,  though  not  so  quickly  as  a  few  miles  inland. 

E\'eryone  who  has  traveled  in  the  dry  air  countries  or  has  marked 
the  difference  between  a  damp  hot  day  and  a  dry  hot  one  in  the  East 
knows  the  effect  of  dry  air  in  hot  weather.  Cool  nights  follow^  of  course 
from  the  rapid  radiation ;  the  backbone  of  the  hottest  day  is  broken  at 
four  o'clock;  by  six  it  is  pleasantly  cool,  and  by  nine,  cool  enough  for 
blankets.  More  rapid  radiation  of  heat  from  the  body  and  faster  evap- 
oration of  perspiration  and  consequent  absorption  of  heat  from  the  skin 
also  follow,  and  all  the  depressing  effects  of  hot,  damp  weather  are 
absent.  On  the  very  hottest  of  days  one  who  has  nothing  to  do  but 
seek  comfort  can  always  find  a  lu.xurious  coolness  in  the  shade  and 
breeze;  while  horses  do  more  work  than  in  the  East  and  men  work  in 
the  harvest-field  without  suffering  and  without  the  slightest  danger  of 
sun-stroke. 

In  the  interior  any  given  day  will  of  course  be  warmer  at  noon  than 
on  the  coast.  Yet  even  there  the  number  of  summer  days  when  the 
mercury  does  not  pass  seventy-five  degrees  is  surprising.  At  Oakwood, 
United  States  station  at  Fallbrook,  fourteen  miles  from  the  coast  and 
seven  hundred  and  seventy  feet  above  the  sea,  the  thermometer  in  five 
years  reached  one  hundred  degrees  but  twenty-three  times,  and  ninety- 
five  degrees  but  twenty-nine  times  (e.xclusive  of  the  other  twenty- 
three  times).     This  fairly  represents  the  heat  of  the  interior. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  climate,  next  to  the 
entire  absence  of  hydrophobia,  is  the  entire  absence  of  dangerous  winds 
and  the  almost  entire  absence  even  of  unpleasant  ones.  The  highest 
v.-ind  ever  registered  at  the  United  States  Signal  Station  at  San  Diego  was 
but  forty  miles  an  hour  and  that  but  once.  During  the  eight  years  the 
record  has  been  kept,  the  wind  exceeded  twenty  miles  an  hour  but  one 
hundred  and  fifty  times.  Of  these  one  hundred  and  fifty  there  were  but 
forty-seven  over  twenty-five  miles  an  hour,  but  thirteen  over  thirty,  only 
five  above  thirty-one,  and  but  one  over  thirty-six. 

Summer  produces  here  no  such  bowel  complaints  or  fevers  as  it 
does  in  the  East.  The  entire  absence  of  malaria,  where  not  locally 
caused,  makes  one  doubt  whether  one  ever  owned  a  liver.  Gravel  and 
all  other  kidney  diseases,  with  rheumatism,  neuralgia,  etc.,  are  quite 
unknown  e\'en  in  the  old  settled  places,  and  \'ery  much  modified  or  cured 


rnii  CLIMATE.  71 

in  cases  that  have  come  here  with  them;  while  catarrh  is  quite  certain 
to  disappear  and  hay  fe\er  is  rarely  known  to  return  even  to  an  old 
victim. 

It  is  by  many  supposed  that  a  climate  so  tree  from  cold  must  abound 
in  all  sorts  of  reptiles  and  insect  pests.  It  is,  however,  quite  the  reverse. 
Various  reptiles  are  found  but  it  takes  a  considerable  search  to  see  one, 
and  the  number  of  persons  annually  injured  in  the  whole  State  by 
poisonous  reptiles  or  insects  of  all  kinds  does  not  equal  the  number 
annually  killed  in  most  Eastern  States  by  hydrophobia  alone. 

Neither  yellow  fever  nor  cholera  has  ever  made  a  lodgment  here,  nor 
is  there  any  special  complaint  of  any  kind  peculiar  to  the  climate. 

There  is  after  all  no  better  test  of  a  desirable  climate  than  the 
number  of  days  one  can  spend  out-of-doors.  The  following  record  kept 
by  the  writer  for  his  own  information  during  his  hrst  winter  in  California, 
is  extraordinary  for  a  country  where  one  can  live  and  raise  anything. 
Yet  it  was  the  unusually  good  season  of  1875-76,  when  six  thousand 
acres  of  wheat  in  El  Cajon,  scratched  in  with  a  harrow,  yielded  an 
average  of  twenty  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  the  honey  crop  and  other 
crops  were  immense.  The  record  was  kept  in  El  Cajon,  to  see  how 
many  days  could  be  spent  out-of-doors  in  hunting,  etc.  From  first  to 
last  rain,  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  days,  there  were  one  hundred  and 
twelve  days  warm  and  clear.  Noon  temperature  sixty-five  to  seventy- 
five  degrees.  There  were  thirteen  days  cloudy  but  warm;  clear  and 
cool,  eight  days;  cloudy  and  cool,  six  days.  Noon  temperature  of  cool 
days  fifty-five  to  sixty-five  degrees.  Rainy  all  day,  ten;  showery,  ten. 
The  lowest  noon  temperature  was  fifty-five  degrees.  The  days  marked 
"showery"  were  days  of  clearing-up  showers  after  rainy  nights,  and 
were  exactly  like  "  April  showers  "  at  the  East, — days  when  one  could 
not  venture  out  for  a  whole  day,  or  perhaps  a  zcfio/e  half  day,  but  could 
still  spend  one-half  the  day  out-of-doors.  Here  were  one  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  out  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  days  that  one  could  spend 
entirely  out-of-doors,  and  but  ten  days  that  one  need  spend  wholly 
within.  And  this  was  a  year  wetter  than  two-thirds  of  the  years  in  all 
Southern  California.  Of  course  all  the  rest  of  the  year  one  could  spend 
the  whole  day  out-of-doors. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


OUT-OF-DOOR  AMUSEMENTS. 

DIECiO  COUNTY  always  abounded  in  re- 
sources for  the  sportsman  and  camper,  and 
these  attractions  first  brought  here  and  secured 
as  permanent  residents  such  men  as  H.  L.  Story, 
E.  S.  Babcock,  Jr.,  and  many  others  who  have 
aided  largely  in  its  development.  There  prob- 
ably never  was  a  more  pleasant  land  for  camping 
and  traveling  than  this  county  has  been.  Good 
feed,  fire  wood,  and  water  were  abundant  everywhere  in  the  interior;  the 
settlers  were  courteous  and  hospitable  in  the  extreme;  one  could  travel 
almost  anywhere  with  aw^agon,  and  anywhere  on  horseback,  and  camp 
almost  anywhere  without  any  danger  of  being  disturbed  or  having  any- 
thing stolen.  The  county  was  in  fact  about  the  safest  part  of  the  United 
States  for  either  life  or  property.  With  the  ocean  on  one  side,  the 
desert  on  the  other,  and  Lower  California  on  the  south,  it  was  a  very 
difficult  place  to  escape  from.  The  tramp,  the  cowboy,  the  rustler, 
and  all  manner  of  hoodlums  and  malefactors  quickly  discovered  that 
it  was  a  fine  place  to  get  caught  in  and  gave  it  a  wide  berth. 
/  The  yalleT/_guail  of  California  abounded  in  numbers  quite  inconceiv- 
able to  Eastern  sportsmen.  One  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  a 
day  was  an  ordinary  bag  for  a  good  shot,  and  in  any  of  the  canons 
within  a  mile  from  the  post-office  one  could  quickly  load  himself  down 
with  all  he  cared  to  carry  back  on  foot.  Fifty  or  sixty  were  a  common 
score  for  one  shooting  only  from  a  wagon  in  traveling  from  El  Cajon,  or 
Spring  Valley,  to  San  Diego  in  the  morning  or  evening,  and  that  many 
have  often  been  shot  there  by  one  who  knew  nothing  of  wing  shooting. 
This  quail  was  found  as  high  as  sixthousand  feet  above  sea  level,  tHough 
not  very  abundant  above  three  thousand  feet,  and  most  abundant  along 
the  coast,  where  they  could  always  be  found  in  great  numbers  with  ab- 
solute certainty.  No  attention  was  paid  to  the  law,  and  no  impression 
was  made  upon  their  numbers  until  the  building  of  the  railroad  brought 
in  a  host  of  market  shooters.  These  generally  hunted  in  pairs,  and  two 
men  have  shipped  in  one  w'inter,  from  San  Diego,  thirty-five  thousand 
quails,  nearly  all  killed  singly. 
(72) 


1 


OUT-OF-DOOK  .IJ/r.S7-:.]//-:\7S.  73 

^  The  small  hare,  commonly  called  "cf>ttontail,"  and  the  large  hare, 
or  "Jack  rabbit,"  also  abounded  in  incredible  numbers.  Morning-  and 
evening  they  played  over  every  acre  of  mesa,  hopped  in  scores  around 
the  edge  of  every  brush-clad  hill  or  patch  of  cactus.  A  bushel  or  two  of 
them  could  be  shot  from  a  wagon  in  a  few  miles'  drive  along  any  of  the 
roads.  But  three  years  ago  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  were  counted 
along  the  road  in  a  single  trip  from  San  Diego  to  Old  Town,  about  three 
miles.  By  nearly  everyone  they  w^ere  considered  a  great  nuisance, 
and  they  certainly  were  destructive  to  gardens,  and  vines,  and  young 
trees.  There  are,  however,  few  of  the  old  settlers  who  would  care  to 
exhibit  a  balance-sheet  with  rabbit  meat  on  the  credit  side  at  even  three 
cents  a  pound.  The  flesh  of  the  cottontail  is  as  white  and  fine  as  chicken, 
in  no  way  resembling  that  of  the  Eastern  rabbit.  It  runs  with  a  swift, 
zigzag  motion  that  makes  very  pretty  shooting,  especially  on  bright 
moonlight  nights,  the  flickering  white  tail  making  a  fine  mark  for  snap- 
shooting. 

Turtle-do\-es  and  meadow:  larks  were  also  very  numerous,  the  for- 
iner  especially,  though  not  so  abundant  as  the  quail. 
^  Ducks  of  nearly  all  varieties  were  found  in  every  lagoon  and  slough. 
In  many  places,  such  as  Warner's  Ranch,  Temecula,  San  Jacinto,  Elsi- 
nore,  and  Santa  Margarita,  geese  and  sand-hill  cranes  were  very  plenty 
during  the  winter.  They  covered  the  mesas  and  valleys  of  Santa  Mar- 
i^arita  at  times  by  the  hundred  thousand. 

The  sloughs  and  bays  along  the  coast  were  lined  with  curlew,  snipe, 
willet,  dowitchers,  plover,  etc. ,  and  there  was  no  prettier  sight  than  the 
thousands  of  w'ater-fowl  riding  on  the  smooth  face  of  San  Diego  Bay  on 
a  bright  winter  day.  Where  nearly  all  is  now  a  watery  blank  and  where 
even  the  sea-gull  scarcely  dares  to  fly,  pelicans,  divers,  mergansers, 
shags,  ducks  of  nearly  all  varieties,  brant,  sea-gulls,  fish -hawks,  terns, 
and  what-not  were  everywhere.  So  tame  were  they  that  from  the  wharf 
one  could  watch  the  divers  beneath  him  swimming  along  under  water 
behind  a  school  of  little  fish,  picking  them  up  right  and  left  with  dex- 
terous motion.  The  black  brant,  the  finest  of  American  water-fowl,  not 
known  on  the  Atlantic  Coast  and  rare  on  this  coast  south  of  Oregon, 
dotted  the  bay  far  and  wide.  Down  Spanish  Bight,  the  dividing  inlet  of 
Coronado  Beach,  where  one  may  now  watch  for  a  month  without  seeing 
any,  from  fifty  thousand  to  a  hundred  thousand  could  be  seen  at  the 
ebb-tide  coming  into  the  bay  from  the  sea.  Reckless,  idiotic  shooting, 
the  white  man's  hoggish  disposition  to  waste  and  destroy,  has  reft  this 
bay  of  one  of  its  chief  attractions. 

The  antelope  plaved  over  the  jilains  of  San  Jacinto,  Temecula,  and 
the  mesa  between  Otay  and  El  Cajon.  The  last  of  the  latter  band  was 
killed  about  fi\e  years  ago,  the  last  o{  the  Temecula  band  about  two 
years  ago,  and  the  sole  sur\ivor  of  the  San  Jacinto  bantl  was  killed  this 
last  fall. 


74  CITY  AND   COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

The  deer  nximed  from  the  coast  to  mountain-top.  Though  ne\er 
so  abundant  as  in  the  North,  deer  were  still  plenty  enough  for  good  sport. 
The  variety  is  the  mule  deer,  like  that  of  Arizona,  and  not  the  black- 
tail  of  the  North. 

Though  settlement  and  the  increase  of  hunters  have  reduced  the 
numbers  of  ducks,  geese,  sand-hill  cranes,  and  quails  to  a  scarcity, 
which  few  of  the  old  residents  ever  expected  to  see,  very  good  shooting, 
compared  with  that  of  most  other  States,  still  remains.  The  quails  and 
hares  C2fn  never  be  exterminated,  and  though  the  labor  of  hunting  them 
is  much  increased  fair  bags  may  yet  be  made.  The  deer  hunting  is  still 
very  good  in  most  seasons  and  will  remain  so  for  many  a  year. 

There  never  was  much  trout  fishing  in  this  county.  Trout  Mere 
killed  out  of  the  Santa  Ysabel  Creek  many  years  ago  by  the  Indians,  by 
the  use,  it  is  said,  of  "  soap  weed."  They  were  swept  out  of  Temecula 
Creek  by  the  flood  of  1862.  A  few  yet  remain  in  Pauma  Creek,  though 
sadly  dwindled  in  both  numbers  and  size. 

Fair  fishing  may  yet  be  had  in  San  Diego  Bay,  and  the  fishing  out- 
side the  bar  is  about  as  good  as  ever.  The  barracouda  and  Spanish 
mackerel  afford  fine  trolling,  are  gamy,  ravenous,  and  very  plenty  in 
season.  In  the  kelp  is  found  an  abundance  of  rock-cod,  red-fish,  and 
other  good  fish,  which  can  be  caught  in  great  quantities  about  all  the 
year  around. 

There  is  no  better  place  for  rowing  and  sailing  than  San  Diego  Bay. 
The  breeze  is  always  certain,  and  equally  certain  to  be  never  so  strong 
as  to  be  dangerous.  Upon  the  great  ocean  the  frailest  boat  may  gener- 
ally ride  with  safety,  and  the  bar  is  nothing  to  cross. 

No  country  ever  had  better  natural  roads  for  riding  and  driving 
than  this  county  before  the  travel  became  too  heavy.  Even  now  thev 
could  be  kept  good  if  scraped  in  winter  when  damp,  a  thing  that  will 
probably  soon  be  done  in  all  directions.  Even  as  they  are  they  make 
pleasant  drives  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year. 


J 


CHAPTER    XVI. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

^Ji  fy^  HE  arable  soils  of  San  Diego  County,  though 
very  varied,  may  be  classed  under  two  heads, 
the  granite  and  the  adobe,  though  there  is 
sometimes  a  mixture  of  the  two  that  at  first 
glance  resembles  pure  adobe. 

The  adobe  is  mainly  clay,  and  is  of  four  prom- 
inent colors,  though  these  sometimes  shade  into 
one  another.  These  are  dark,  light-grayish 
brown,  red,  afid  dark  brown.  The  general 
character  of  all  is  the  same.  They  are  all  \-ery  strong  soils, 
probably  standing  longer  cropping  without  fertilization,  rest 
or  rotation,  than  any  other  soil  in  the  United  States.  The\- 
are,  however,  all  hard  to  work  unless  taken  in  the  right 
stage  of  moisture,  when  they  are  very  tractable,  and  then,  if  well  culti- 
vated, they  retain  moisture  as  well  as  any  soil.  With  sufficient  moisture 
they  raise  the  heaviest  grain,  and  for  some  kinds  of  vegetables,  such  as 
beets,  and  for  such  fruits  as  pears,  they  cannot  be  excelled.  But  in  gen- 
eral they  are  not  as  desirable  as  the  granite  soils. 

The  granite  soils  are  all  formed  from  the  disintegration  of  the  soft 
red,  or  gray  granite,  which  forms  the  bed-rock  of  most  of  the  interior 
hills.  If  dissolved  in  water,  mica  will  be  seen  shining  in  the  finest  of 
them,  and  sometimes  fine  quartz  crystals  are' mixed  with  iu  With  it 
all  is  an  abundance  of  vegetable  matter,  but  more  in  a  state  of  pulveriza- 
tion than  of  decay;  so  that  this  soil  generally  lacks  that  fine  rich  shade 
which  elsewhere  is  deemed  a  sure  test  of  goodness.  The  eye  cannot  be 
relied  upon  as  a  judge  of  any  soil  in  Southern  California.  Even  that  which 
appears  to  be  pure  sand,  when  well  treated  to  seed  and  water,  under 
the  California  sun,  will  give  results  that  will  astonish  the  most  experi- 
enced farmer  or  gardener  from  any  other  land.  These  granite  soils  run 
through  all  shades  of  color  between  dark  red,  caused  by  the  presence  ot 
iron,  and  light  gray,  and  through  all  degrees  of  fineness,  from  the  fine 
red  soils  which  show  no  mica,  unless  dissohed  in  water,  to  hea\-y  gray 

sand,  coarse  enough  to  make  a  gra\el  walk. 

(75) 


76  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

None  of  these  soils  as  yet  need  any  fertilization,  although  some, 
such  as  the  coarse  granite  last  mentioned,  would,  for  many  things,  be 
improved  by  it;  and  the  time  will  doubtless  come  when  all  of  them  will 
be  bettered  by  it,  especially  for  those  trees  and  vines  which  bear  heavily 
and  need  fruit  of  full  size  to  be  marketable,  such  as  oranges  and  raisin 
grajies.  Scarce  any  of  these  soils  require  any  clearing  that  is  at  all 
expensive,  and  no  ' '  breaking, ' '  such  as  is  needed  in  many  countries — 
a  common  plow  readily  turning  up  the  soil  ten  inches  or  more  after  the 
first  rain.  Under  the  pipe  system  of  distribution,  which  is  fast  being 
adopted  in  the  land  to  prevent  waste  of  water  and  improve  its  deliverv, 
scarce  any  of  these  soils  now  require  leveling  or  any  preparation  for  irri- 
gation. Probably  nowhere  in  the  United  States  can  virgin  soil  l:)e  so 
quickly  and  cheaply  pre[)ared  for  culti\'ation,  while  all  the  expense  of 
preparing,  watering,  and  keeping  in  order,  does  not  equal  the  expense 
of  clearing  and  fertilizing  in  Florida. 

Though  California  is  probably  the  only  State  in  the  Union  where 
crops  and  many  other  kinds  of  produce  can  sometimes  be  grown  with- 
out any  plowing  at  all,  it  is  probably  also  the  only  State  where  rich  land 
often  refuses,  for  no  apparent  cause,  to  bear,  while  unplowed,  even  a 
moderate  crop  of  the  native  grass,  or  other  vegetation,  though  the  same 
land  when  plowed  will  raise  anything  in  luxuriance.  Still,  other  tracts 
may  be  covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  grass  or  brush  and  be  rich  for 
some  things,  yet  may  be  very  inferior  for  many  of  the  most  valuable  prod- 
ucts that  can  be  grown.  Hence  it  may  be  safely  said  that  from  the 
absence  of  native  vegetation  nothing  can  be  inferred  against  the  land ; 
while  any  inference  drawn  from  its  presence  may  possibly  be  delusive  in 
another  way.  Within  a  few  years,  such  wonderful  results  have  been 
obtained  by  careful  cultivation,  with  judicious  irrigation,  that  it  may  be 
said  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  poor  land  in  Southern  California,  pro- 
vided it  can  be  plowed  at  all  and  watered.  And  at  the  present  rate  of 
development  of  land,  but  five  years  ago  deemed  worthless,  it  may  be 
almost  predicted  that  in  ten  years  more,  water,  climate,  and  prospect 
will  give  a  high  value  to  land  that  will  require  an  outlay  of  $ioo  an  acre 
to  clear  of  bowlders  and  cobble-stones. 

San  Diego  has  a  line  of  large  steamers  to  San  Francisco,  and  also 
to  Mexico  and  Guatemala.  The  county  now  has  over  three  hundred 
miles  of  railroad,  of  which  nearly  one-half  belongs  to  the  Southern  Pa- 
cific, and  lies  upon  the  desert.  The  California  Southern  enters  the 
habitable  part  of  the  county  near  Riverside,  and  terminates  at  National 
City.  A  branch  line  from  Perris  to  San  Jacinto  will  soon  be  finished. 
The  branch  from  Oceanside  through  San  Marcos  to  Escondido  is  al- 
ready done,  and  that  from  San  Diego  to  El  Cajon  will  be  built  at  once, 
and  continued  on  through  the  interior.  The  continuation  of  the  coast 
line  from  Oceanside  to  Los  Angeles  is  nearly  finished.  All  these  are 
owned  by  the  Santa  Fe  Company. 


I 


MISCELLANEOUS.  -j-j 

A  new  road  is  underway  from  Pomona  to  Elsinore,  and  the  charac- 
ter of  the  incorporators  indicates  that  it  is  no  trifle.  Elsinore  is  no  ter- 
minus for  any  road,  neither  is  Temecula,  nor  any  other  point  north  of 
San  Diego.  This  means  that  San  Diego  is  the  objective  point,  and  the 
road  is  without  doubt  the  Southern  Pacific. 

The  San  Diego  and  Cuyamaca  Railroad  Company  is  preparing  to 
build  a  narrow-gauge  road  to  the  beautiful  Cuyamaca  Mountains.  This 
will  open  up  the  interior,  as  well  as  the  finest  summer  resort  in  South- 
ern California,  the  Cuyamaca  Lake,  and  adjoining  woods  and  hills. 

A  railroad  will  soon  be  built  from  San  Diego  to  San  Quintin,  in 
Lower  California.  Lower  California,  for  over  three  hundred  miles  be- 
low the  line,  is  much  like  San  Diego  County,  with  the  same  climate, 
plenty  of  good  land,  and  a  high  and  broad  mountain  rain  belt  with 
j)lenty  of  water  to  take  upon  the  table-lands  of  the  coast.  There  are 
also  numbers  of  well-watered  \alleys.  It  is  a  fine  country.  All  the  up- 
per part  for  over  three  hundred  miles  is  now  in  the  hands  of  a  strong 
American  company  called  the  International  Company  of  Mexico,  hav- 
ing a  grant  from  the  Mexican  (jovernment  of  eighteen  million  acres. 
This  they  are  rapidly  colonizing.  Two  steamers  to  Ensenada,  some 
sixty  miles  below  the  line,  are  now  running;  also  a  steamer  to  San  Quin- 
tin. The  greater  part  of  this  fine  country  will  be  tributary  to  San 
Diego  Bay  and  the  railroads  there  centering. 

Several  very  rich  gold  mines  have  been  discovered  in  the  county, 
and  four  are  now  being  worked  at  a  fine  profit  in  the  district  around 
Julian.  Gold-bearing  ledges  exist  in  various  parts,  but  as  yet  few  at- 
tempts have  been  made  to  develop  them  properly.  The  mines  now 
paying  so  well  at  Julian  were  discovered  several  years  ago,  but  were 
abandoned  as  of  little  value.  When  new  owners  came  with  more  expe- 
rience and  improved  methods,  they  soon  proved  them  highly  profitable. 
The  change  that  proper  management  has  wrought  proves  that  in  the 
matter  of  mines  the  resources  of  the  county  are  yet  quite  unknown, 
while  the  number  of  places  where  rich  quartz  ledges  are  known  to  exist 
indicates  that  under  proper  methods  a  large  number  of  mines  will  soon 
be  worked  at  a  large  profit. 

There  are  also  other  kinds  of  \aluable  mineral  in  \arious  places, 
not  yet  worked,  or  e\-en  tested  in  any  way  that  will  pro\'e  whether  they 
are  profitable  or  not.  Asbestos  is  found  in  abundance  in  the  San  Ja- 
cinto region ;  clay  that  makes  excellent  pottery  is  found  near  Elsinore 
in  abundance,  and  exists  in  many  other  i)laces.  Lignite,  so  closely  ap- 
proaching coal  as  almost  to  pro\-e  a  certainty  of  its  running  into  it,  is 
found  near  Elsinore  in  a  vein  of  great  thickness.  So  new  is  everything 
that  all  such  resources  of  the  county  remain  comparatively  unexplored, 
and  its  inhabitants  as  yet  know  but  little  more  than  strangers  of  its  un- 
der-ground wealth.     San  Diego  strikes  the  stranger  at  first  as  a  treeless 


78  Cir\ '  AND  CO  UNTY  OF  SAN  DIEG O. 

countr\-.  But  thousands  and  thousands  of  acres  of  hue  timber  lie  in  the 
high  mountains,  and  tire  wood  is  at3undant  enough  above  two  thousand 
feet,  and  along'  the  river  bottoms.  Eucalyptus,  j^epper  trees,  cotton- 
wood,  willow,  sycamore,  etc.,  can  be  grown  in  great  quantity  in  a  short 
time  with  a  little  water,  or  without  irrigation  on  low  ground,  and  all 
make  good  fire  wood. 

Hot  springs,  strong  enough  with  suli)hur,  soda,  and  other  miner- 
als to  suit  anyone,  are  found  in  various  places.  Some,  like  those  at 
Warner's  Ranch,  Murietta,  and  San  Jacinto,  are  as  large  as  those  of 
Arkansas  and  of  about  the  same  character.  Others  are  smaller,  but  hot 
enough  and  strong  enough  to  please  either  taste  or  imagination.  All 
are  easily  reached,  and  some  of  the  larger  ones  have  bath-houses  and 
accommodations  for  travelers.  The  Murietta  Springs  are  but  three 
miles  from  the  railroad.  All  of  these  will,  in  time,  be  fitted  up  in  good 
style. 

San  Diego  will  soon  ha\e  the  finest  educational  ad\-antages  of  any 
county  in  the  State.  Not  only  are  good  schools  abundant  in  all  direc- 
tions, but  good  colleges  are  arising  in  several  places.  The  colleges 
at  Escondido  and  Ramona  are  already  under  way.  The  colleges  at 
San  Diego,  on  University  Heights  arid  Pacific  Beach,  will  be  a  credit  to 
any  city.  Both  these  are  already  heavily  endowed  with  the  most  valua- 
ble city  property  in  quantity  enough  to  insure  the  building  of  magnifi- 
cent buildings  and  a  good  annual  income.  They  will  be  run  on  the 
most  progressive  principles,  and  not  be  stifled  in  any  fog  of  bigoted 
orthodoxy. 

Prices  of  living  average  about  the  same  as  in  the  East,  some  things 
being  higher,  others  cheaper.  Taxes  are  much  less  than  in  most  parts 
of  the  East.  Probably  in  the  long  run  it  costs  less  to  live  here,  espe- 
cially in  the  country,  the  difiference  in  the  expense  of  getting  through  the 
winters  overbalancing  all  else.  Southern  California  hotels  and  restau- 
rants generally  are  much  superior  to  those  of  the  East  for  the  same  price, 
and  $i.oo  a  day  here  will  secure  as  good  board  and  room  as $2.00. will 
anywhere  east  of  the  Rockv  Mountains,  and  without  any  bed-bugs 
thrown  in. 

There  are,  howe\'er,  some  things  that  by  many  who  ha\e  ne\'er 
been  here  are  considered  drawbacks  that  are  not  so,  such  as  the  long 
summers  of  six  or  eight  months.  That  feature  of  the  land  no  resident 
would  change  if  he  could.  Give  San  Diego  County  twelve  inches  of 
rain  from  December  to  April  inclusive,  and  half  reasonably  distributed, 
and  without  another  drop  the  land  w*ill  excel  in  production,  acre  for 
acre,  any  other  part  of  the  United  States.  Unless  sufficient  for  vegeta- 
tion, summer  rains  would  do  more  harm  than  good  by  injuring  the 
dried  grass  and  ripe  crops.     If  sufficient,  the  chief  beauty  of  the  climate 


MISCEL  L  ANRO 1 :9.  79 

would  be  ruined;  the  land  would  he  a  tropical  jungle  full  of  malaria, 
with  a  sultry,  enervating  air,  full  of  mosquitoes  and  other  insect  torments. 
There  are  other  lands  where  one  can  spend  a  winter  with  comfort,  but 
the  chief  glory  of  the  California  climate  is  that  one  may  enjoy  the  win- 
ter, and  instead  of  running  away  may  remain  and  be  more  pleased  with 
the  summer. 

It  is  the  only  southern  land  where  a  residence  is  more  enjoyable  at 
any  time  of  year  than  anywhere  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  the 
great  majority  of  those  now  covering  the  land  with  beautiful  homes  are 
held  here  as  much  by  the  sunuuer  as  bv  the  winter. 

Neither  are  earthquakes  a  drawback.  They  are  no  more  frequent 
than  in  the  East,  and  are  generally  so  light  that  a  stranger  will  not 
know  until  told  that  there  has  been  one.  Since  the  coming  of  the 
■^  Americans  no  house  or  person  has  been  injured  in  the  slightest,  and  the 
only  case  known  before  that  was -the  falling  of  an  adobe  tower  of  a 
church  eighty  years  ago.  All  the  other  old  missions  built  of  adobe, 
some  of  them  like  that  of  San  Luis  Rey,  with  high  domes  and  towers, 
have  never  been  injured  in  the  hundred  years  they  have  stood. 

There  are  no  Indians  here  that  anyone  need  fear.  They  are  all 
brought  up  under  the  Catholic  Church,  are  generally  industrious,  and 
trouble  no  one. 

Neither  are  there  enough  Chinese  here  to  interfere  with  any  deser\-- 
ing  white  person.  The  few  there  are  generally  find  employment,  but  it 
is  at  work  that  interferes  little  with  the  whites. 

San  Diego  County  has  been  called  the  Italy  of  Southern  California, 
Though  in  one  respect  this  comparison  is  as  absurd  as  that  of  the  news- 
paper poet  who  compared  the  sunset  to  the  robin's  breast,  it  is  in  the 
main  correct.  It  is  to  Southern  California  what  Italy  is  to  Europe,  the 
aggregation  in  its  highest  development  of  all  its  beauties  and  advantages. 
Whatever  is  beautiful,  fertile,  grand,  sweet,  or  noble,  in  .Southern  Cali- 
fornia, one  may  find  here  heightened  in  effect  by  its  more  southern 
position  and  the  varied  elevations  of  its  good  land. 

There  are,  of  course,  some  objectionable  features,  as  there  are  ni  ev- 
ery land.  These  may  strike  you  all  the  more  strongly  because  the 
whole  of  California  has  been  absurdly  overpraised.  Your  \ery  first 
contact  may  be  with  these.  But  when  }-ou  stay  long  enough  to  see  the 
solid  realities  of  the  land,  and  learn  that  it  is  not  to  blame  for  your  over- 
wrought imagination,  or  the  unwise  enthusiasm  of  its  friends,  you  will 
begin  to  like  it.  Year  after  vear  an  affection  that  you  cannot  and  would 
not  resist  winds  itself  ever  more  closely  around  your  soul.  Life  comes 
so  easily  and  so  naturally;  time  flies  so  swiftly  yet  so  softly.  "S'ou  feel  the 
thread  of  life  fly  faster  from  the  spindle,  yet  you  hear  no  whizz.  There 
are  so  few  breaks  or  jars  in  the  train  of  comfort  as  the  long  line  of  cloud- 


8o 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


less  days  rolls  on ;  appetite  and  sleep  hang  around  you  so  wooingly  in 
the  constant  out-of-door  life  that  you  are  enthralled  before  you  know  it. 
You  feel  yourself  ensla\-ed,  but  in  a  slavery  from  which  you  would  not 
escape.  The  few  who  try  it  are  only  too  glad  to  return  to  their  chains 
after  spending  at  their  old  homes  a  few  weeks  of  either  winter  or  sum- 
mer. 


II 


BIOGRAPHICAL 


I 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES- 


A.  E.  HORTON. 


It  was  the  boast  of  Augustus  Qesar  that  he  found  Rome  in  brick 
and  he  should  leave  it  in  marble.  With  more  regard  to  truth  might 
Alonzo  E.  Horton,  speaking  in  the  figurative  style  adopted  by  the 
Roman  Emperor,  remark  that  he  found  San  Diego  a  barren  waste,  and 
to-day,  as  he  looks  down  from  the  portico  of  his  beautiful  mansion  on 
Florence  Heights,  he  sees  it  a  busy,  thriving  city  of  35,000  inhabitants. 
Probably  there  is  no  other  instance  in  the  history  of  our  country, 
where  great  cities  have  grown  from  insignificant  beginnings,  where  the 
presence  of  one  man,  unaided  by  abundant  capital,  has  accomplished 
such  wonderful  results  as  have  been  achieved  by  A.  E.  Horton  in  San 
Diego. 

To  understand  and  appreciate,  however,  in  its  fullest  sense,  what 
Mr.  Horton  has  accomplished,  it  is  necessary  to  inquire  into  the  anteced- 
ents and  examine  the  characteristics  of  the  man. 

In  the  year  1635  the  good  ship  Swallow,  after  a  long  and  tempest- 
uous voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  dropped  her  anchor  in  port  at  Hampton, 
Massachusetts.  Among  the  passengers,  who  were  all  Puritans,  was  Barna- 
bar  Horton,  a  native  of  Leicestershire,  England.  From  him,  in  the  sev- 
enth generation,  IS  descended  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Alonzo  Erastus 
Horton  was  born  m  Union,  Connecticut,  October  24,  18 13.  When  he 
was  two  years  of  age  his  parents  removed  to  Madison  County,  New 
York.  Afterwards  they  took  up  their  residence  at  Scriba,  a  few  miles 
from  Oswego,  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Ontario.  Here  his  youth  and 
early  manhood  were  passed.  During  this  time  he  was  clerk  in  a  gro- 
cery, learned  the  cooperage  trade,  and  was  a  sailor  on  the  lake,  finally 
owning  and  commanding  a  schooner,  \n  which  he  engaged  in  the  grain 
trade  between  Oswego  and  Canada.  WHien  he  arrived  at  man's  estate 
he  was  in  quite  delicate  health  and  his  physician  pronounced  him  con- 
sumptive, and  said  if  he  wished  to  prolong  his  life  he  must  go  West. 
Accordingly  in  1836  he  started  for  Milwaukee,  landing  there  in  May  of 
that  year.  This  was  an  era  of  speculation  in  the  Western  States;  it 
began  several  years  previously,  and  ended  with  the  great  financial  crash 
of  1837.  While  in  Milwaukee,  turning  his  hand  to  whatever  he  could 
find  to  do,   young  Horton  became  possessed  of  the  information  that 

(S3) 


84 


CITY  AND   COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


the  bills  of  certain  Michigan  banks  would  be  received  at  the  land 
office  in  payment  of  lands  at  par,  and  would  be  the  equal  of  gold, 
and  consequently  command  a  premium  of  lo  per  cent.  He  had  a  cash 
capital  of  $300,  and  acting  on  his  secret  information,  he  hunted  out  the 
holders  of  Michigan  currency  and  was  soon  doing  a  brisk  exchange 
business.     This  enterprise  was  a   financial  success.     He  returned  to 


A.  E.  HORTON. 

New  York  State  soon  afterwards,  but  the  year  1840  saw  him  again  in 
Wisconsin.  He  bought  a  home  in  Oakland  and  married.  After  this  tor 
three  years  he  was  engaged  in  dealing  in  cattle  and  land,  steadily  adding 
to  his  little  capital.  He  bought  a  large  quantity  of  land  warrants  in  St. 
Louis  about  this  time  and  located  1,500  acres  in  Outagamie  County, 
Wisconsin.  Here  he  founded  the  village  of  Hortonville,  and  at  the  end 
of  two  years  he  sold  out  his  investments  at  a  profit  of  nearly  $8,000. 

It  was  in  1851  that  Mr.  Horton  made  his  first  journey  to  Califor- 


ll 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  85 

nia.  He  spent  a  few  months  in  the  mines,  but  he  soon  found  that  he 
could  make  more  money  trading  in  gold-dust  than  digging  for  it.  In 
this  traffic  his  profits  were  quite  large,  during  the  last  ([uarter  of  1854 
reaching  as  high  as  $1 ,000  a  month.  As  the  gold-dust  business,  however, 
got  a  little  dull  he  engaged  in  an  ice  speculation.  Locating  some  fine  fields 
in  the  mountains,  he  cut  and  disposed  of  three  hundred  and  twelve  tons, 
which  returned  him  a  profit  of  $8,000.  He  now  had  a  comfortable  fortune 
for  those  days  and  he  determined  on  going  back  home  to  his  family.  Ac- 
cordingly in  the  spring  of  1856  we  find  him  a  passenger  on  the  steamer 
Cortez,  for  Panama.  A  few  hours  after  the  Cortez  landed  her  passengers 
at  Panama  the  terrible  riots  broke  out  in  which  the  natives  attacked  for- 
eigners wherever  found,  killing  and  plundering  all  who  came  in  their  way. 
Two  hundred  persons  from  the  steamer  were  dining  in  the  hotel  when 
that  building  was  attacked  by  the  mob.  A  general  rush  was  made  for 
the  upper  story,  where  they  hoped  to  escape  their  assailants.  Among  all 
the  passengers  only  three  had  fire-arms  and  one  of  these  was  Horton.  By 
common  consent  he  was  selected  to  command  the  garrison.  The  natives, 
who  by  this  time  had  become  crazy  with  rage  and  rum,  attempted  to 
carry  the  staircase  leading  to  the  upjjer  story  by  storm  and  se\-eral  of 
the  leaders  darted  up  the  narrow  passage.  At  the  head  of  the  stairs 
stood  Horton,  a  revolver  in  each  hand,  perfectly  cool  and  collected.  In 
the  room  behind  him  were  tenscore  persons,  including  women  and 
children;  below  were  a  thousand  demons  thirsting  for  their  blood.  It 
was  a  trying  moment,  but  Horton  did  not  hesitate.  Those  behind  urged 
the  foremost  of  the  assailants  forward ;  the  leader  mounted  another  step ; 
there  was  a  flash,  a  report,  and  he  fell  back  dead.  Two  others  took 
his  place,  but  they  dropped  lifeless.  Now  the  reports  grew  quicker  and 
the  flashes  from  the  revolvers  told  of  the  sharp  work  being  done.  Hor- 
ton had  emptied  his  own  weapons  and  had  discharged  most  of  the  bar- 
rels of  another  that  had  been  handed  to  him  before  the  rioters  fell  back. 
Eight  of  their  number  were  dead  and  four  were  seriousK-  wounded. 
But  the  dangers  of  the  besieged  were  not  at  an  end.  Although  the 
mob  had  been  repulsed  they  were  not  dispersed,  and  they  were  still 
vowing  vengeance  upon  the  passengers.  The  only  place  of  safety  was 
the  steamer.  Getting  his  little  band  in  compact  order,  Horton  distrib- 
uting the  revolvers  to  those  whom  he  knew  would  use  them  judiciously, 
started  on  the  retreat  to  the  landing.  This  was  reached  in  safety, 
though  the  mob  followed  them  closely,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  rare 
generalship  displayed  by  Horton  in  getting  the  party  embarked  on  a 
lighter  instead  of  allowing  them  to  rush,  pell-mell,  as  they  attempted  to, 
on  a  small  tug,  many  must  have  lost  their  lives.  As  it  was,  the  lighter 
was  towed  out  to  the  steamer  and  all  were  taken  on  board  in  safetv. 
Mr.  Horton' s  baggage,  containing  $10,000  in  gold-dust,  was  lost,  hav- 
ing fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  rioters.  He  saved  $5,000,  which  he  had 
tied  around  him  in  a  belt. 


86  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

Mr.  Horton  remained  in  Wisconsin  until  1861,  when  he  again 
started  lor  the  Pacific  Coast,  going  with  a  party  overland  to  British 
Columbia.  He  spent  a  season  in  the  Cariboo  mining  district,  and  at 
first  made  money,  but  their  claim,  which  had  been  considered  a  very 
valuable  one,  "petered  out,"  and  they  finally  disposed  of  it  for  $200 
and  started  south.  Mr.  Horton  then  came  to  San  Francisco,  where  he 
engaged  in  business  of  different  kinds  with  varying  degrees  of  success. 
In  the  early  part  of  1867,  at  a  private  literary  gathering  one  evening, 
San  Diego,  its  climate  and  harbor,  was  the  topic  of  discussion.  He 
was  greatly  impressed  with  what  he  heard.  Here  was  the  sight  of  a 
great  city  of  the  future;  nature  had  done  her  share;  all  that  was  want- 
ing was  for  man  to  develop  it.  The  voice  of  fate  seemed  to  call  to 
Horton  that  this  was  his  opportunity.  He\sold  out  his  business  in  three 
days'  time,  and  started  on  his  pilgrimage  southward.  It  was  the  6th 
of  April,  1867,  that  Mr.  Horton  reached  San  Diego.  The  few  people 
that  were  settled  here  then  lived  at  Old  Town,  but  Mr.  Horton  after 
looking  the  ground  over  concluded  that  the  true  place  for  the  city  of 
the  fufure,  his  ideal  city,  was  farther  down  the  bay.  He  first  began 
the  agitation  of  an  election  of  City  Trustees.  Candidates  were  nominated 
and  elected.  There  was  no  opposition.  Then  Mr.  Horton  had  surveyed 
eight  hundred  and  eighty  acres  which  he  desired  to  purchase.  The 
property  was  advertised  and  sold  at  auction.  There  was  but  one  bidder 
(Mr.  Horton)  and  he  bid  it  all  in  at  twenty-six  cents  an  acre.  This  prop- 
erty is  now  the  main  portion  of  the  city  of  San  Diego.  Mr.  Horton  then 
had  his  "  addition  "  platted,  and  started  to  San  Francisco  to  dispose  of 
it.  At  first  he  met  with  but  indifferent  success;  people  were  suspicious  of 
"Sandyagp,"  as  "John  Phoenix"  had  dubbed  it;  the  general  impres- 
sion was,  it  was  very  hot  and  was  a  place  very  congenial  to  the  rattle- 
snake. But  Mr.  Horton  was  never  discouraged;  he  had  faith  in  the 
future.  In  1867  his  receipts  were  $3,000;  in  1869,  they  had  increased 
to  $85,000.  Since  then  the  appreciation  of  his  property  has  been 
steady  until  the  last  two  years  when  the  increase  has  been  phenomenal. 
When  we  come  to  look  at  what  Mr.  Horton  has  done  for  the  city  of 
his  creation,  we  cannot  deny  but  that  he  has  been  a  faithful  and  devoted 
parent.  He  has  expended  over  $700,000  of  his  own  capital  in  the 
improvement  of  San  Diego.  He  built  the  first  wharf,  which  was  after- 
wards sold  to  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company,  who  in  turn  disposed 
of  it  to  the  present  owners,  the  Pacific  Coast  Steamship  Company.  He 
gave  to  each  of  the  religious  denominations  a  lot  for  a  church  edifice, 
and  some  of  them  are  now  very  valuable.  The  lots  on  which  the 
Methodist  Church  building  now  stands  at  the  corner  of  D  and  Fourth 
.Streets,  is  valued  at  $60,000,  and  when  the  members  of  the  con- 
oregation  look  upon  it  they  are  constantly  reminded  of  Mr.  Horton's 
munificence.      If  the  real  estate  that  he  has  given  away  was  valued  at 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  87 

the  prices  selling  at  this  time  (A])rii,  iSS8)it  would  reach  at  least 
$1,000,000.  In  the  clays  of  the  city's  infancy  he  gave  land  to  every- 
one who  he  thought  would  improve  it.  The  pnjmises  made  to  him  by 
the  recipients  of  his  bountv  were  not,  however,  always  fulfilled.  He 
gave  a  fine  block  of  land  to  a  m  ui  to  build  ;i  iKJtel  on,  but  the  hotel  was 
not  built.  He  gave  a  block  to  a  gentleman  who  now  occupies  a  high 
position  in  the  federal  service,  and  two  years  afterwards  bought  it  back 
for  $4,000.  He  gave  a  block  for  a  flour-mill  and  donated  the  block  on 
which  the  court-house  stands,  to  the  county.  In  all  he  g.ive  away  four- 
teen blocks  and  innumerable  lots,  for  the  purpose  of  building  up  the  city. 
For  three  years,  when  everyone  but  he  had  grown  discouraged,  Mr. 
Horton  carried  the  town  on  his  own  shoulders,  paying  salaries  of  offi- 
cials and  all  the  expenses  of  the  corporation.  He  was  ready,  to  help 
everyone  who  asked  it  of  him,  and  married  men  could  always  get  work 
from  him  to  earn  a  living  and  support  their  families  when  all  other  em- 
ployers failed  them. 

Personally  Mr.  Horton  is  one  of  the  most  genial  of  men.  He  is 
easily  approached  and  is  always  as  willing  to  give  an  attentive  hearing 
to  the  man  who  earns  his  daily  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  and  if 
need  be  lend  him  a  helping  hand,  as  to  listen  to  the  schemes  of  the 
capitalist.  Somewhat  above  the  medium  height,  with  a  portly  frame, 
he  is  in  robust  health,  an  i  his  clear  eye  and  pleasant  countenance  bear 
testimony  to  the  fidelity  with  which  he  has  complied  with  the  laws  of 
health. 


E.  W.   AFORSE. 


The  visitor  who  reaches  San  Diego  in  a  palace  car,  drives  to  a 
first-class  hotel,  and  the  following  morning,  from  the  seat  of  an  easy 
carriage,  looks  down  from  the  highest  part  of  the  city  upon  the  beauti- 
ful bay  and  the  enchanting  landscape  that  greets  his  eye,  breathing, 
meanwhile,  the  air  that  invigorates  his  entire  system,  is  very  apt  to 
think  that  he  has  reached  an  earthly  paradise.  But  it  is  doubtful  if  his 
enjoyment  is  as  ke^n  as  is  that  of  the  man  who,  looking  upon  the 
same  scene,  and  breathing  the  same  atmosphere,  calls  to  mind  the  tact 
that  nearly  twoscore  years  ago  he  stood  upon  the  same  spot  and 
looked  down,  for  the  first  time,  upon  the  panorama  which  nature 
spread  at  his  feet.  There  were  no  stately  buildings  before  him  then; 
the  waters  of  the  bay  were  not  dotted  with  the  hulls  of  merchantmen; 
it  was  indeed  as  nature  had  made  it — neither  m.irred  nor  adorned  by 
the  hand  of  man.  The  pioneer  of  the  Pacific  Coast  possesses  many  of 
the  qualific.itions   of  suoren^  hipplness.     Hi  has  seen  the   country 

emerge  from  a  state  of   se  ni-barbarism  into  one  of  tha  most  enlight- 
9 


88 


CJT)'  AXJ)   COrXT)'  OF  SAX  DIEGO. 


enecl  and  progressive  sections  of  the  republic.  He?  has  seen  old  theo- 
ries concerning  agriculture,  commerce,  antl  transportation  overturned. 
He  has  seen  lonely  hamlets  made  populous  trade  centers,  and  the 
desert  to  blossom  as  the  rose.  He  has  not  only  seen  all  these  things, 
but  he  has  participated  in  the  many  wondrous  changes;  and,  if  he  has 
been    usually  economical,   industrious,  and  persevering,  he    has    kept 


E.  W,  MORSE. 

pace  with  the  advance  about  him,  and  to-day  enjoys  a  share  in  the 
general  prosperity  of  the  State.  To  this  class  belongs  the  subject  of 
the  following  brief  sketch  : — 

E.  W.  Morse  was  born  in  Amesbury.  Massachusetts,  October  i6, 
1823,  in  the  house  yet  standing,  and  now  over  two  hundred  years  old, 
in  which  his  fiither,  grandfather,  and  great-grandfather  had  been  born 
before  him.  Until  he  was  eight  years  of  age  he  lived  with  his  father 
and  mother  on  the  old  farm.      Then  for  the  first  time  he  left  the  par- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  89 

ent  nest,  being  sent  to  Newburyport  to  school.  Here  he  remained 
for  eight  years,  and  by  the  time  he  was  sixteen  years  old,  he  had  ac- 
quired an  excellent  common-school  education;  just  such  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  work  of  every-day  life  as  many  a  New  England  boy  re- 
ceived at  that  time.  Then,  having  a  strong  taste  for  an  outdoor  life,  he 
went  back  to  the  farm,  and  until  he  was  twenty-five  worked  steadily. 
He  had  apparently  settled  down  to  the  steady-going  life  of  a  New 
England  farmer.  But  an  event  was  happening  on  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific  that  was  to  make  a  change,  not  only  in  the  career  of 
young  Morse,  but  in  that  of  thousands  of  others.  Gold  had  been 
discovered,  and  when  the  news  was  brought  to  the  Atlantic  States  the 
wildest  excitement  was  created.  All  eyes  were  turned  toward 
the  El  Dorado.  From  no  section  of  the  Union  did  the  argonautic 
fleet  gain  more  zealous  recruits  than  from  New  England.  Young 
Morse  caught  the  infection,  and  he  joined  a  company,  largely  made  up 
of  his  acquaintances  and  friends,  who  purchased  the  ship  Leonorc,  and 
on  the  4th  of  February,  1849,  sailed  away  from  Boston  Bay  in  search 
of  the  golden  fleece.  The  voyage  was  about  the  average  of  Caj)e 
Horn  voyages,  and  they  entered  the  Golden  Gate  on  the  5th  of  the 
following  July.  They  disposed  of  the  ship,  and  all  hands  started  for 
the  mines,  locating  on  the  Yuba  Ri\er.  The  work  was  hard,  the 
weather  was  excessively  hot,  and  after  a  few  weeks  the  little  band  of 
gold-hunters  that  had  left  Massachusetts,  strong  and  rugged,  began  to 
droop;  many  died,  and  the  others,  suffering  from  fever  and  ague, 
started  for  "the  Bay."  Morse  was  among  these.  Although  the  brac- 
ing air  of  San  Francisco  invigorated  him  somewhat,  his  system  had 
become  so  impregnated  with  the  malarial  poison,  that  he  felt  that  he 
must  have  a  more  complete  change  of  climate  if  he  would  regain  his 
old-time  health  and  spirits. 

E\'en  in  that  early  day  the  reputation  of  San  Diego  as  a  sanita- 
rium was  established,  and  Morse  determined  that  he  would  make  a  trial 
of  it.  He  accordingly  took  a  sailing  vessel,  and  after  a  pleasant  \ox- 
age  down  the  coast  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  San  Diego.  The  settle- 
ment at  that  time  was  in  what  is  now  called  Old  Town.  It  was  there 
that  Mr.  Morse  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  and  settled  down  to 
make  his  home.  The  climate  he  found  to  be  all  that  was  claimed  for 
it;  within  a  month  after  his  arrival  he  was  as  strong  and  hearty  as  the 
day  he  left  the  old  farm.  The  San  Diego  of  that  day  differed  greatly 
from  the  city  of  the  present.  The  amusements  were  bull-fights,  fan- 
dangoes, Tiwd  Jicstas;  the  buildings  were  all  made  of  adobe;  cattle, 
hides,  and  tallow  were  the  chief  exports,  and  beef  and  beans  were 
the  staple  articles  of  diet.  Young  Morse,  howexer,  took  readily  to  the 
new  ways,  learned  to  talk  Spanish,  and  was  soon  a  great  favorite  with 
the   native   population.      Before  settling  down  for  good,  however,  he 


90  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

look  a  journey  back  East.  In  1851  he  started  by  the  Nicaraugua  route, 
and  arrived  safely  at  his  old  home.  He  then  married  Miss  Lydia 
A.  Gray,  of  Amesbury,  and  with  his  bride  returned  to  San  Diego.  Five 
years  afterward  he  was  left  a  widower  with  one  son,  Edward  W. ,  who 
is  now  a  resident  of  Merrimac,  Massachusetts.  In  1S52  Mr.  Morse 
was  elected  Associate  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Sessions  of  San  Diego 
County,  and  the  following  year  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees.  He  was  afterward  made  Secretary  of  the  Board, 
and  held  the  office  for  twelve  years.  In  1856  he  was  admitted  to  prac- 
tice in  the  courts  of  the  Judicial  District.  In  1859  he  disposed  of  his 
mercantile  business,-  and  went  to  Paloma,  to  engage  in  raising  sheep. 
In  1 86 1  he  returned  to  San  Diego,  and  again  engaged  in  business  as  a 
merchant,  also  acting  as  agent  for  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.  In  1865  Mr. 
Morse  was  married  a  second  time,  to  Miss  Mary  C.  Walker,  a  native  of 
Manchester,  New  Hampshire.  In  1869  he  sold  out  his  business  in  Old 
Town,  and  moved  down  to  the  new  city  of  San  Diego.  In  1870  he 
was  one  of  the  moving  spirits  in  the  organization  of  the  Bank  of  San 
Diego,  the  pioneer  bank  of  the  city.  He  also  aided  in  organizing  the 
Consolidated  National  Bank,  and  has  always  continued  to  be  a  director 
in  that  institution.  In  187 1  Mr.  Morse  went  to  Washington  to  look 
after  the  interests  of  the  city  in  the  case  of  the  United  States  vs.  city 
of  San  Diego,  in  regard  to  a  disputed  survey  of  the  Pueblo.  He  ap- 
peared before  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  argued  the  case  so 
ably  that  a  few  weeks  after  Mr.  Morse's  return  home,  that  official 
handed  down  his  decision,  which  was  favorable  to  the  city.  Mr. 
Morse  has  been  Public  Administrator  and  County  Treasurer,  and  has 
always  been  identified  with  every  enterprise  that  has  been  started  to 
advance  the  interests  of  his  adopted  city.  If  he  had  never  done  any- 
thing, the  ere6lion  of  the  magnificent  block  on  the  corner  of  F  and 
Sixth  Streets,  which  he  undertook  in  connection  with  his  long-time 
friend,  the  late  James  M.  Pierce,  would  be  an  enduring  monument 
to  his  public  spirit.  He  has,  in  partnership  with  Thos.  Whaley  and 
R.  H.  Dalton,  lately  built  another  beautiful  business  structure  on  Fifth 
Street  adjoining  the  First  National  Bank. 

James  M.  Pierce  left,  by  his  will,  the  sum  of  55150,000  to  found  a 
home  for  boys  and  girls,  and  Mr.  Morse  and  two  other  gentlemen  have 
each  contributed  a  like  sum  for  the  founding  of  institutions  similar  in 
character,  which  are  to  be  established  in  the  City  Park,  and  will,  to- 
gether with  Mr.  Pierce's  endowment,  form  a  magnificent  chain  of 
benevolent  institutions. 


JUDGE  O.  S.  WITHERBY. 


It  is  not  alone  to  her  wealtJi,  the  extent  of  her  manufacturing^-  in- 
dustries, and  the  political  influence  she  wields,  that  Ohio  owes  her 
proud  position  in  the  sisterhood  of  States.  It  is  to  the  sj)irit  of  enter- 
prise, business  acumen,  and  go-aheadativeness  of  her  sons  that  the 
wonderful  progress  of  this  wonderful  State  is  largely  due.  Wherever 
great  cities  have  sprung  up,  wherever  there  are  projects  requiring  men 
of  genuine  ability  to  conceive,  or  capital  to  develop  them,  among  the 
leading  spirits  of  the  community  will  be  found  the  sons  of  Ohio. 
They  have  gone  out  from  their  mother  State  into  the  remotest  sections 
of  the  Union,  and  carry  with  them  everywhere  the  impress  of  prog- 
ress that  has  become  one  of   their   lixed   attributes. 

One  of  Ohio's  sons,  who  has  aided  materially  in  building  up  San 
Diego,  is  Judge  Oliver  S.  Witherby.  He  was  born  in  Cincinnati, 
February  19,  1815.  He  graduated  at  Miami  University  in  1836,  stud- 
ied law  at  Hamilton,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1840.  Three 
years  later  he  was  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney  for  Butler  County, 
an  office  which  he  filled  for  two  terms.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Mexican  war  he  was  First  Lieutenant  of  Company  K,  in  the  first 
regiment  of  Ohio  Volunteers,  that  left  Cincinnati  in  May,  1846. 
After  remaining  with  his  company  for  about  one  year  he  was  taken  sick 
at  Camargo,  Mexico,  and  left  there  for  home.  On  his  return  he  re- 
sumed his  duties  as  Prosecuting  Attorney,  and  also  acted  as  editor  of 
the  Hamilton  Telegraph. 

Judge  Witherby  came  to  San  Diego  in  1849,  with  the  Boundar\- 
Line  Commission,  being  Commissary  of  the  commission,  and  after  the 
labors  of  that  body  were  finished  he  decided  on  locating  on  the  shores 
of  San  Diego  Bay.  He  was  elected  to  represent  the  County  of  San 
Diego  in  the  first  Legislature  that  assembled  at  Monterey  in  1850,  and 
with  his  voice  and  vote  assisted  in  moulding  the  laws  of  the  State  just 
created.  He  was  elected  the  first  Judge  of  the  southern  district 
under  the  first  constitution,  a  position  which  he  filled  with  honor  until 
he  was  appointed,  by  President  Pierce,  Collector  of  Customs  for  the 
port  of  San  Diego.  Soon  after  the  expiration  of  his  term  as  Col- 
lector, Judge  Witherbv  purchased  a  ranch,  which  is  now  called  Es- 
condido,  and  for  o\'er  ten  years  he  was  a  successful  farmer.  In  1868 
he  sold  his  ranch  and  returned   to    San    Diego.      During   those   early 

(91) 


92 


CITY  AXD   COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


years  Judge  W ithcrby  had  judiciously  invested  in  real  estate.  He  is 
one  of  the  few  men  who  have  had  steady  faith  in  the  great  future  of 
San  Diego.  When  others  sold  out  their  investments,  discouraged  at 
the  prospect  of  the  city's  growth,  he  held  on.  As  a  result  he  is  now 
one   of  San  Diego's  wealthy  men.     He  is  int-erested  in  many  financial 


JUDGE  O    S.   WITIIERBY. 

undertakings,  and  is  a  director  in  the  Consolidated  National  Bank. 
Politically  Judge  Witherby  has  always  been  a  Democrat,  and  he  is 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  party  in  Southern  Califor- 
nia. He  is  a  public-spirited  citizen,  liberal  in  his  views,  and  his 
generosity  is  proverbial. 


M.  SCIIILLKR. 


One  of  the  pioneer  residents  and  I)est-kno\vn  citizens  of  San  Diego 
is  M.  Schiller.  Mr.  Schiller  was  born  in  X'njnka,  in  tlie  Dukedom  of 
Posen,  in  1823.  Until  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age  he  remained  with 
his  parents  in  his  native  town.  Then  he  decided  to  branch  out  and  see 
the  world.  He  had  as  a  playmate  and  intimate  friend  a  youth  of  his 
own  age  named  J.  L.  Falk.  Young  I*"alk  had  learned  that  somewhere  in 
Scotland  he  had  relatives  living  who  had  charge  of  a  legacy  left  him  a 
short  time  before.  He  determined  to  hunt  them  up,  and,  calling  his  friend 
Schiller  into  his  counsels,  without  much  difficulty  mduced  him  to  join 
in  the  pilgrimage  to  Scotland.  There  is  something  romantic  in  these 
young  boys  starting  out  from  a  town  in  the  interior  of  Europ.e  to  jour- 
ney over  land  and  sea  many  hundreds  of  niiles  in  quest  of  a  treasure 
that  one  of  them  had  grounds  for  believing  he  might  secure.  They 
had  but  a  small  stock  of  ready  money,  and  their  stock  of  worldly  expe- 
rience was  extremely  limited.  Nevertheless  they  had  strong  young 
bodies  and  brave  hearts,  and  that  made  up  for  all  else  that  was  lacking. 
They  first  journeyed  to  Berlin,  from  there  to  Hamburg,  and  thence 
sailed  to  Hull,  England,  and  from  there  took  passage  overland  for 
Manchester.  From  Manchester  they  traveled  to  Liverpool,  where  they 
made  a  brief  stop,  and  from  thence  pushed  on  to  Glasgow,  Scotland. 
In  this  city  they  were  unsuccessful,  and  they  spent  several  months  jour- 
neying over  Scotland  in  search  of  young  Falk' s  relatives  who  held  the 
key  to  the  treasure  of  which  they  were  in  search.  At  last  they  became 
discouraged  and  resolved  to  return  home.  After  many  trials  thev  again 
reached  Liverpool.  Ui)on  arrixing  in  that  great  city  their  money  was 
entirely  gone,  they  were  without  accjuaintances,  and  they  understood 
but  little  of  the  English  language.  Their  situation  was  anything  but 
comfortable.  They  started  out  along  the  docks,  hoping  that  something 
would  turn  up  to  better  their  fortune.  Here  they  met  an  old  gentleman 
who  was  standing  on  the  dock  where  a  vessel  was  loading  for  America. 
He  engaged  them  in  conversation  and  at  once  seemed  to  take  a  fancy 
to  young  Schiller.  He  soon  offered  to  take  him  with  him  to  the  United 
States.  Schiller,  however,  refused  to  leave  his  friend  Falk.  Finally 
the  old  gentleman  agreed  to  take  them  both.  Accordingly  they  went 
on  board  and  soon  after  set  sail.  When  they  landed  in  New  York 
young  Schiller  at  once  started  out  in  search  of  work.  He  was  success- 
ful an  1  obtained  emplov.n^nl  witli  a  clothin^^- and  furnishing  goods  firm. 

(03) 


94 


CITY  AXD  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


with  whom  he  reniained  lour  \ears.  At  the  end  of  that  lime  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  his  old  tViend  Falk,  and  together  they  engaged  in  the 
clothing  Vnisiness.  They  remained  together  several  years,  with  fair  suc- 
cess. Then  they  started  for  Tuskaloosa,  Alabama,  where  they  opened 
a  clothing  and  furnishing  goods  store.  At  the  end  of  three  years 
Schiller  removed  to  Talladega,  Alabama,  where  he  engaged  in  business 


M.   SCHILLER. 

with  another  partner  and  continued  two  years.  Then  he  went  to  Marion, 
Alabama,  for  about  one  year,  and  then  removed  to  Augusta,  Georgia, 
where  he  continued  in  business  by  himself  for  eight  and  one-half  years. 
He  had  heard  a  good  deal  about  California,  and  the  opportunities 
offered  there  for  business,  and  he  resolved  to  try  the  new  country.  He 
accordingly  went  to  New  York,  and  after  a  stay  of  six  or  seven  months 
he  purchased  a  stock  of  goods  valued  at  $i8,odo  and  shipped  them  to 
San   Francisco  around  Cape    Horn,    coming  himself  by  way  of  the 


BIOGRAPinCAL  SKETCHES.  95 

Isthmus.  He  reached  San  Francisco  in  1.S53.  When  his  goods 
were  received  they  turned  out  to  be  too  fine  a  cjuaHty  lor  the  market. 
He  accordingly  sold  out  his  stock  at  considerable  loss  and  bought  a 
new  supply  of  heavy  goods.  He  thert  started  for  Nevada  City,  intend- 
ing to  locate  there.  In  that  year,  however  (1855),  there  was  no  rain 
and  as  a  consequence  times  were  very  hard.  Schiller  was  glad,  there- 
fore, to  dispose  of  his  stock  at  less  than  cost,  taking  notes  at  sixty  and 
ninety  days.  Shortly  after  receiving  these  notes  a  disastrous  fire 
broke  out,  which  nearly  devastated  the  town.  Schiller,  fearing  a 
second  conflagration,  and  afraid  he  would  hjse  his  money  entirely  if 
such  happened,  again  disposed  of  these  notes  at  a  discount  of  twenty 
per  cent  for  cash.  With  the  avails  he  started  for  San  Francisco.  The 
weather  was  very  severe  and  on  the  journey  Schiller  contracted  a  very 
bad  cold.  When  he  reached  San  Francisco  his  health  was  so  poor  that 
he  decided  to  seek  a  milder  climate,  and  accordingly  came  to  San  Diego, 
arriving  here  in  1856.  He  innnediately  went  into  business  in  Old  Town, 
then  the  business  center  of  San  Diego,  with  M.  Mannasse.  At  the 
end  of  a  year  he  formed  a  partnership  with  J.  S.  Mannasse. 

Later  on  they  engaged  quite  extensixely  in  the  lumber  trade, 
continuing  their  general  merchandise  business.  They  ran  their  own 
vessels  and  during  1872,  the  year  in  which  they  started  the  lumber 
business,  in  nine  months  they  sent  to  one  house  in  San  Francisco 
$154,000  for  general  merchandise  and  lumber.  This  was  the  year  of 
the  Tom  Scott  boom.  The  firm  then  owned  the  Encinitas  Ranch  and 
part  of  the  San  Diegto  Ranch,  which  they  had  stocked  w  ith  some  three 
thousand  or  four  thousand  head  of  cattle  and  over  one  thousand  head  of 
horses  and  other  animals.  They  also  had  a  \'inevard  on  the  ranch  and  a 
copper  mine  in  which  they  sunk  se\eral  thousand  dollars.  About  this  time 
a  party  of  Mormons  left  their  settlement  at  San  Bernardino  for  the 
purpose  of  prospecting  for  coal  along  the  coast  between  Point  Loma  and 
La  Jolla.  They  found  some  good  specimens  of  coal,  but  after  they 
had  been  at  work  a  little  while  they  were  ordered  home  to  Utah  by 
Brigham  Young. 

Schiller  and  his  partner  had  furnished  them  with  tools,  pro- 
visions, and  clothing,  and  had  even  advanced  money  to  pay  the  hands. 
When  they  were  ordered  to  Utah  the  firm  naturally  felt  a  little  anxious 
ibout  their  pay.  Mr.  Schiller  accordingly  went  up  to  San  Bernardino, 
where  he  saw  the  leading  Mormons.  After  stating  the  case  to  them 
they  agreed  to  reimburse  him  and  gave  one  hundred  and  forty-five  acres 
of  good  land  in  .settlement  of  the  bill.  About  three  years  afterwards  they 
traded  the  land  ofil"  for  the  Encinitas  Ranch.  Nine  or  ten  years  ago 
they  sold  this  ranch,  sending  their  stock  to  Mexico  on  account  of  a 
drouth  here.  Thev  still  have  three  or  four  hundred  head  of  stock  in 
that  countrv. 


96  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

DuriuiL:  all  this  time  the)-  were  doings  a  large  mercantile  busi- 
ness and  l)()uu:ht  a  good  deal  of  land  in  Old  Town  and  in  New  San 
Diego,  considerable  of  which  they  still  own.  They  own  most  of  the 
Schiller  &  Mannasse  Addition. 

Mr.  Schiller  has  contributed  his  full  share  to  all  public  im- 
provements and  for  many  years  there  has  been  no  movement  started 
for  the  benefit  of  the  city  that  their  firm  name  has  not  been  at  the 
head  of  the  list.  No  church  has  been  built  but  they  have  con- 
tributed liberally;  they  paid  $i,ooo  bonus  to  induce  the  telegraph 
company  to  build  the  first  line  here,  and  they  subscribed  hand- 
somely to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  Texas  Pacific  lobby  in  Washington. 
They  also  gave  twenty  acres  of  land  and  the  right  of  way  through  their 
addition  to  Tom  Scott.  Mr.  Schiller  was  a  stockholder  and  director  in 
the  old  Texas,  Gila,  and  San  Diego  Railway.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  for  two  years,  and  during  that  time  was  instru- 
mental in  passing  the  resolution  setting  aside  one  thousand  and  four 
liundred  acres  of  land  for  the  city  park.  He  is  a  director  and  on  the 
Committee  of  Relief  of  the  San  Diego  Benevolent  Association,  which 
has  done  so  much  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  sick  and  poor.  For 
thirt.y-four  years  Mr.  Schiller  has  been  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Order. 
He  joined  the  order  in  Augusta,  Georgia.  He  was  Master  Mason  of  the 
Lodge  here  and  has  at  different  times  held  all  the  offices  in  the  San 
Diego  Lodge.  He  owns  a  comfortable  residence  on  the  corner  of  Front 
and  A  Streets,  built  fourteen  years  ago. 

Mr.  Schiller  was  married  in  September,  1861,  at  San  Francisco,  to 
Miss  Rebecca  Barnett.  They  have  a  family  of  nine  children,  four  sons 
and  five  daughters. 


THOMAS  WHALEY. 


There  is  something  at  once  interesting  and  fascinating  about  the 
life,  character,  and  history  of  the  California  pioneers.  They  were,  as  a 
class,  exceptional  men,  strong  in  most  of  the  qualities  that  go  to  make 
up  the  typical  American  character.  They  were  energetic,  courageous, 
and  far-seeing.  The  careers  of  many  were  full  of  incidents,  and  their 
life  histories  read  like  fiction.  Thomas  Whaley  is  a  good  representa- 
tive of  this  noble  class  of  men.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
October  5,  1823,  a  descendant  of  Revolutionary  stock.  His  paternal 
ancestors  emigrated  from  Ireland  to  New  England  in  the  early  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  His  grandfather,  Alexander  Whaley,  of 
Bushwick  Cross  Roads,  Long  Island,  New  York,  fought  under  the 
special  command  of  General  Washington,  receiving  at  his  hand  a  re- 
ward for  brave  and  daring  conduct,  an  account  of  which  is  given  in  the 


BTOGRAPTirCAL  SKE TCITl-S. 


97 


history  of  Brooklyn.  His  maternal  ancestors  were  of  the  old  English 
family  of  Pye.  four  brothers  of  which  landed  in  New  York  about  the 
year  1792,  bringing  with  them  his  mother,  then  an  infant.  His  childr 
hood  and  youth  were  spent  in  the  metropolis.  He  had  the  ad\antage 
of  the  best  of  schools,  completing  his  course  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  at 
Washington  Institute,  New  York  City,  which  was  named  and  dedicated 


THOMAS   WHALEV. 

by  Lafayette,  in  honor  of  his  friend,  George  Washington,  on  the  occasion 
of  his  last  visit  to  this  country.  In  1842,  before  the  establishment  of 
steamship  lines,  he  w^ent  with  his  tutor,  M:  Emile  Mallet,  to  Europe 
and  for  two  years  traveled  over  England  and  the  continent  for  instruc- 
tion and  pleasure.  Upon  his  return  he  was  variously  engaged  In  mer- 
cantile pursuits,  and  at  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  California 
gold  fever,  he  was  in  the  shipping  olhce  of  George  Sutton,  owner  ol  a 
line  of  packets  running  to  Charleston,  St)uth  Carolina. 


98  err  Y  AND  CO UNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

The  old  ship  Sutioii^  Wardle  master,  was  at  this  time  being  fitted 
out  to  sail  to  the  coast  of  California  on  a  trading  voyage.  The  prepa- 
rations were  interrupted,  however,  by  the  news  of  the  discovery  of 
gold,  and  it  was  decided,  instead  of  sending  the  Sutton  on  a  trading  \'oy- 
age,  to  fit  her  up  as  a  passenger  packet  to  carry  emigrants  to  the  New 
El  Dorado.  Young  Whaley,  brimful  of  pluck  and  enthusiasm,  decided 
to  join  the  fortune  seekers,  and  took  passage  on  the  Sutton.  The  ship 
had  quick  dispatch,  and  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1849,  the  Sutton 
sailed  from  New  York  Harbor.  Snow  was  on  the  ground  and  Staten 
Island  and  the  Jersey  shore  were  wrapped  in  a  mantle  of  white.  Quite 
a  crowd  assembled  at  the  wharf  to  see  the  first  vessel  from  New 
York  set  sail  for  the  gold  fields  of  California.  The  greetings  exchanged 
by  friends  were  cordial  and  mutual  and  many  were  the  requests  for 
"  chunks  of  gold,  some  as  big  as  your  head." 

Among  the  passengers  were  A.  C.  Taylor,  W.  R.  Wadsworth, 
George  D.  Puffer,  Chas.  S.  Palmer,  Chas.  H.  Strybing,  A.  Kuhner  (the 
engra\-er  of  the  great  seal  of  California),  Moseley,  father  and  son,  and 
Dr.  Johnson  and  his  nephew,  Tom  Grant.  In  all  there  were  fifty-four 
passengers.  They  had  rather  a  rough  time  of  it  after  they  got  into  the 
Gulf  Stream,  and  all  the  way  down  to  the  line  they  experienced  more 
or  less  heavy  weather,  so  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  put  into  Rio  de 
Janeiro  for  repairs.  Here  they  remained  for  three  weeks  and  during  that 
time  Whaley  stayed  on  shore,  having  quarters  at  the  old  Hotel  Ferrou. 
There  were  at  least  one  thousand  and  seven  hundred  Americans  in  port 
from  different  ships,  all  bound  for  California,  and  many  pleasant  acquaint- 
ances were  formed.  Repairs  being  completed.  Captain  Wardle  hoisted 
the  ' '  blue  peter, ' '  and  the  Sutton  was  once  more  under  way.  They  were 
a  month  doubling  Cape  Horn,  having  lost  their  reckoning  and  being  un- 
able to  get  an  obser\'ation  during  that  time.  A  sad  accident  occurred 
after  rounding  the  cape.  A  number  were,  against  the  orders  of  the  cap- 
tain, in  the  stern  boat  fishing  for  "gonies."  Owing  to  the  weight,  the 
boat  broke  away  and  a  dozen  or  more  were  precipitated  into  the  water. 
All  were  rescued  except  one  shoemaker,  who  disappeared,  battling  with 
the  gonies,  who  had  picked  into  his  brain,  thus  rendering  effort  use- 
less. The  sea  was  rough,  the  waves  running  high,  and  the  man  sank 
before  help  could  reach  him. 

They  stopped  a  week  at  Valparaiso  for  recreation  and  to  obtain  fresh 
provisions.  On  the  22d  of  July,  nearly  seven  months  after  leaving  New 
York,  they  neared  the  Califcjrnia  shore,  and  passing  within  the  Golden 
Gate,  came  to  anchor  amidst  the  fleet  of  vessels  that  had  been  more  fortu- 
nate. Mr.  Whaley  remained  on  board  the  ship  until  the  erection  of  a  tent 
on  the  corner  of  Jackson  and  Montgomery  Streets,  near  where  the  old 
Pioneer  Hall  stands.  Their  goods  were  landed  at  the  foot  of  Washing- 
ton .Street,  which  then  extended  about  a  hundred  feet  below  the  corner 


BIOGRAPIflCAL  SKETCHES.  99 

of  Montgomery.  Whaley,  with  his  friend  Puffer,  leased  a  portion  of  the 
store  belonging  to  George  S.  Wardle  &  Co.,  erected  a  short  time  altvr 
his  arrival  in  the  city,  and  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business.  In  the 
fall  of  1849  he  leased  a  piece  of  land  from  Colonel  Stevenson,  agent  of 
Henry  Gerke,  on  Montgomery  Street,  opposite  to  George  S.  Wardle 
&  Co.'s,  for  which  he  i)aid  $450  per  month;  he  sub-let  a  portion  of  this 
for  $400  per  month,  and  erected  a  two-story  building  containing  ten 
rooms  upstairs  and  two  stores  below,  and  leased  one  of  the  latter  and 
occupied  the  other  f(jr  his  business.  When  Montgomery  Street  was 
graded  this  building  was  fifteen  feet  below  the  grade  established.  This 
proved  disastrous,  as  all  of  Whaley's  tenants  left  him  and  his  business 
was  destroyed.  He  then  bought  property  on  Rincon  Point  and  erected 
a  dwelling-house  about  opposite  to  where  the  U.  S.  Marine  Hospital 
now  stands.  He  engaged  in  business  as  a  broker  for  a  while  and  after- 
wards became  a  coffee  merchant.  In  the  summer  of  1S51  Lewis  A. 
Franklin  and  George  H.  Davis  chartered  a  vessel  and  with  a  cargo  of 
goods  started  down  the  coast  on  a  trading  voyage.  Whale\-,  who  had 
an  interest  in  the  venture,  remained  in  San  Francisco,  as  their  agent. 
Franklin  and  Davis  stopped  at  various  ports,  finally  at  San  Diego,  and 
liked  the  prospects  so  well  that  they  decided  to  locate.  They  wrote  to 
Whaley  and  he  came  down,  arriving  here  in  the  month  of  October,  1S51. 
He  then  formed  a  partnership  with  Franklin,  and  together  they  opened 
a  store  on  the  plaza  in  Old  San  Diego,  which  they  christened  Ticnda 
California — California  Store.  The  following  April  their  partnership 
was  dissolved,  and  in  connection  with  Jack  Hinton,  Whaley  succeeded 
to  the  business  of  R.  E.  Raymond,  in  the  Ticnda  General — General 
Store — also  at  Old  San  Diego.  They  remained  in  partnership  for  one 
year  and  during  that  time  cleared  $iS,6oo  over  and  above  expenses,  a 
very  large  sum  for  such  a  business.  In  April,  1853,  Hinton  retired  and 
E.  W.  Morse  entered  the  firm.  Whaley  returned  to  New  York  about 
this  time  on  a  mission  at  once  pleasant  and  romantic.  On  the  14th  of 
August,  1S53,  he  was  married  to  Anna  E.  Lannay,  of  New  York,  a 
descendant  of  the  De  Lannav  and  Godtrois  families,  of  pure  French 
extraction.  He  then  returned  to  San  Diego,  bringing  his  bride  with 
him.  They  took  up  their  residence  in  Old  San  Diego,  which  wa.s.then 
a  thriving  town,  though  primitive  in  its  appearance  and  containing  a 
mixed  population  of  Spaniards,  Mexicans,  Indians,  and  whites.  The 
change  from  the  bustling  metropolis  to  this  quaint  old  town  was  no\-el 
and  delightful,  and  the  time  spent  with  the  hospitable  people  was 
particularly  enjoyable. 

In  1S56  Morse  retired  from  the  business  and  Whaley  continued 
alone,  at  the  same  time  engaging  in  britkmaking  in  Mission  \'alley, 
near  Old  San  Diego.  He  also  erected  a  large  brick  building  in  1S56, 
the  first  built  on  the  coast  south  of  San  Francisco.     In  iSs^  he  was  en- 


loo  CITY  AND  CO  UXrV  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

gaged  in  mercantile  business  with  Walter  Ringgold,  a  son  of  Major 
Cieorge  H.  Ringgold,  Pavmaster  United  States  Army,  but  in  less  than 
a  year  this  store  on  the  Plaza,  Old  Town,  was  destroyed  by  an  incen- 
diary fire. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Indian  war  in  1852,  Whaley  joined  the 
Fitzgerald  volunteers.  There  was  a  general  rising  oi  the  Indians  be- 
tween Los  Angeles  and  San  Diego.  Martial  law  was  proclaimed  in 
San  Diego,  and  until  their  suppression  by  the  capture  and  execution  of 
their  leader,  Antonio  Garra,  the  times  were  quite  lively. 

About  January,  1859,  Whaley  went  to  San  Francisco,  and  in  March 
was  appointed  commissary  storekeeper,  under  Capt.  M.  D.  L.  Simpson,  • 
United  States  Army,  in  which  employ,  under  successive  commissaries, 
he  remained  for  several  years.  He  then  engaged  in  the  shipping  and 
commission  business  for  nearly  two  years.  After  that,  under  Col.  G.  H. 
Weeks,  Quartermaster,  in  charge  of  the  clothing  department,  he  was  ap- 
pointed storekeeper,  and  there  remained  till  Colonel  Weeks  was  relieved 
by  Captain  Sawyer,  military  storekeeper. 

About  this  time  the  Russian  Possessions,  purchased  at  the  instance 
of  Wm.  H.  Seward,  were  to  be  turned  over  to  the  United  States.  Troops 
were  to  be  sent  up  to  Alaska  under  the  command  of  General  Jefferson  and 
C.  Davis,  with  Col.  George  H.  Weeks  Quartermaster,  and  acting  Commis- 
sary of  Subsistence,  who  procured  an  order  for  Whaley  to  take  charge 
of  the  three  Government  transports,  with  stores,  on  their  arrival  at  Sitka, 
as  QuaWermaster's  agent.  He  proceeded  on  one  of  these  transports  and 
arrived  at  his  destination  September  26,  1867.  The  steamer  7^//^  L. 
Stevens,  Captain  Dall,  with  General  Davis  and  command,  arrived  Octo- 
ber 10,  and  a  i^w  days  thereafter  the  United  States  steamer  Ossipe, 
having  on  board  the  Commissioners.  Within  an  hour  after  their  arrival 
the  Territory  was  turned  over  to  the  United  States  by  Russia.  Whaley, 
in  company  with  others,  assisted  in  raising  the  American  flag  on  the 
island-of  Japonski,  opposite  Sitka,  simultaneously  with  the  lowering  of 
the  Russian  ensign,  and  the  hoisting  of  the  stars  and  stripes  over  the 
Governor's  house  at  Sitka.  Whaley  remained  in  Alaska  as  commissary 
storekeeper  and  clerk  until  March,  1868.  He  was  elected  with  Samuel 
Storer,  W.  S.  Dodge,  Lugerville,  and  one  other,  Councilmen  of  the 
town  ot  Sitka,  and  helped  to  frame  such  civil  laws  for  the  government 
of  the  people  as  were  permitted  by  General  Davis,  the  Military  Gover- 
nor of  the  Territory.  Whaley  returned  to  San  Francisco  and  then 
with  his  family  went  to  New  York.  With  the  proceeds  of  a  partial  dis- 
tribution of  his  father's  estate  invested  in  a  stock  of  goods,  he  returned 
to  San  Diego  and  again  engaged  in  business  at  Old  Town.  This  was 
shortly  after  Father  Horton  had  started  his  new  town  of  San  Diego, 
known  as  Horton' s  Addition.  Everything  then  was  booming  in  the 
Old  Town.     There  were  twelve  stores,   some  of  them  carrying  large 


BIOGRAPHICAL  Sk'I'/rCIIES.  loi 

stocks,  particularly  J.  S.  Mannasse  &  Co. ,  titteen  saloons,  four  hotels, 
two  express  offices,  the  post-office,  besides  being"  the  county  sc-at.  To 
secure  a  good  location,  in  the  spring  of  1869,  Whaley  b(jught  out  his 
old  partner  Morse,  who  was  doing  a  good  business  on  the  Plaza,  and, 
in  company  with  Philip  Crosthwaite,  continued  business  then  till  Febru- 
ary, 1870,  when  it  became  evident  that  New  San  Diego  was  to  be  the 
point  where  the  city  of  the  future  would  l)e  established,  and  the  firm 
resolved  to  move  their  stock  there;  but  the  connection  from  beginning 
to  end  was  a  disastrous  one  to  Whaley.  In  1873  he  again  went  to 
New  York  and  remained  there  nearly  five  years,  variously  engaged. 
During  this  time  he  settled  up  the  estate  of  his  father,  which,  owing  to 
the  panic  of '73,  realized  but  the  tithe  of  what  he  had  expected.  \\\ 
1879  Whaley  returned  to  California.  After  passing  a  few  months  in 
San  Francisco,  he  reached  home,  San  Diego,  in  the  latter  part  of  1879, 
poorer  than  ever  he  had  been  before.  In  the  fall  of  1880  there  were 
prospects  of  a  railroad,  and  a  boom  for  San  Diego.  Whaley  made  a 
proposition  to  E.  W.  Morse  to  go  into  the  real  estate  business,  which 
was  accepted  and  shortly  afterward  they  admitted  Charles  P.  Noell,  the 
firm  being  Morse,  Noell  «&  Whaley,  till  February,  1886,  when  Mr. 
Noell  sold  his  interest  to  R.  H.  Dalton,  the  firm  being  Morse,  Whaley, 
&  Dalton,  till  February,  1887,  when  Mr.  Morse  retired,  leaving 
the  firm  Whaley  &  Dalton.  Mr.  Whaley  bought  considerable  prop- 
erty in  and  around  Old  Town  and  at  La  Playa,  the  greater  part  of 
which  he  still  retains.  He  has  also  acquired  an  interest  in  other  prop- 
erty, known  as  firm  property  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  some  of 
which,  the  Fifth  Street  property,  is  being  improved  from  the  sale  of 
outside  property  belonging  to  the  firm.  He  retired  from  active  busi- 
ness last  February  to  pass  the  few  years  remainnig  in  peace  and  hap- 
piness with  his  wife,  surrounded  by  loving  children  and  grandchildren, 
dispensing  the  surplusage  of  his  wealth  for  the  relief  of  suffering 
humanity. 

With  the  exception  of  being  City  Trustee  in  18S5,  City  Clerk  in 
1881  and  1882,  Notary  Public  for  the  county  of  San  Diego  for  six  years, 
and  Councilman  for  Sitka,  Alaska,  Whaley  has  never  held  any  public 
office. 


HON.    JAMES   McCOY. 


The  pioneer  American  residents  of  San  Diego  were  a  marked 
body  of  men.  Many  of  them  are  living  here  to-day,  and  the  positions 
they  occupy  among  their  fellows  denote  that  they  possess  qualifica- 
tions that  would  make  them  leaders  in  any  community.  They  were 
generally  self-made  men,  who,  by  reason  of  their  native  force  of  char- 
acter, succeeded  in  surmounting  obstacles  before  which  less  heroic 
material  would  have  been  o\'erwhelmed.  These  were  the  men. who, 
when  San  Diego's  future  greatness  was  in  embryo,  sprang  to  the  front, 
and  with  their  push  and  determination  started  the  young  city  on  its 
progress  toward  commercial  supremacy.  One  of  the  foremost  among 
this  class  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

James  McCoy  was  born  in  County  Antrim,  Ireland,  August  12, 
1 82 1.  He  lived  with  his  parents,  and  worked  on  a  farm  for  the  first 
twenty  years  of  his  life.  Then  he  began  to  yearn  for  that  land  of  lib- 
erty beyond  the  sea,  and  in  the  summer  of  1842  he  took  passage  in  the 
ship  Alexander,  for  the  United  States,  landing  at  Baltimore  on  the 
ninth  of  July.  Here  he  found  employment  in  a  market  garden,  and 
afterward  at  a  distillery.  In  these  occupations  he  remained  seven 
years.  In  1849  he  enlisted  in  the  regular  army,  in  Captain  Magruder's 
Battery,  which  was  under  orders  for  the  Pacific  Coast.  They  sailed 
from  Baltimore  January  27,  1850,  and  landed  in  San  Francisco  on  the 
tenth  of  August.  They  remained  in  that  city  about  ten  days,  and  then 
sailed  down  the  coast  for  San  •  Diego,  which  was  to  be  their  station. 
There  was  at  that  time  considerable  trouble  with  the  Indians,  and 
McCoy  was  sent,  as  a  non-commissioned  officer,  with  twelv^  men  to 
San  Luis  Rey  Mission,  in  the  San  Luis  Rey  Valley,  about  forty 
miles  from  San  Diego.  He  remained  at  this  post  for  two  years  and  a 
half,  and  during  that  time  his  small  force  was  often  called  upon  to  aid 
the  settlers  from  Indian  attacks.  After  leaving  San  Luis  Rey  he  was 
sent  with  fourteen  men  to  Jacumba,  a  station  for  keeping  express 
horses  and  for  mail  carriers,  on  the  road  to  Yuma.  He  remained 
there  for  about  eleven  months,  until,  his  term  of  enlistment  having  ex- 
pired, he  was  honorably  discharged  from  the  service.  While  at 
Jacumba  he  was  often  threatened  by  the  Indians,  and  for  better  security 
he  built  a  small  fort.  Here  he  was  at  one  time  attacked  by  a  band  of 
five  hundred  Indians,  but  his  party  were  all  picked  men  and  trained  to 
Indian  fightmg,  and  they  succeeded  in  beating  off  their  assailants. 
(1C2) 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


103 


He  then  went  with  a  surveying  party  on  the  Colorado  Desert  to  lay 
out  townships.  He  was  enga^-ed  in  this  business  for  two  months  and  a 
half,  and  then  was  employed  in  the  Government  service  driving  teams 
between  San  Diego  and  Fort  Yuma.  He  continued  at  this  work  for 
a  little  over  two  years,  and  then  entered  the  emj^loy  of  the  San  An- 
tonio and  San  Diego  Mail  Line.     He  had  charge  of  the  mail  between 


HONT.  JAMES  McCOY. 

San  Diego,  and  afterward  between  Yuma  and  Tucson.  This  was 
quite  a  hazardous  service,  and  he  hatl  many  narrow  escapes  from  the 
Indians,  besides  suffering  untold  hardships  in  crossing  the  desert 
through  which  his  route  lay.  In  his  trips  from  Yuma  to  Tucson  he 
made  some  very  rapid  time.  He  once  n)de  the  distance  of  three  hun- 
dred miles  in  three  days  and  eleven  hours  and  only  changed  mules 
twice.  The  man  who  rode  with  him,  S.  A.  Ames,  now  lives  at  Ri\-er- 
side. 

10 


I04  CITY  AND  CO  I  'NTY  OF  SAN  DIEG O. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1859,  while  carrying  the  mail,  he  was  elected 
Assessor  of  San  Diego  County,  unci  in  1861  he  was  elected  Sheriff. 
He  was  re-elected  fi\-e  times,  and  remained  in  the  office  of  Sheriff  until 
he  was  elected  to  the  vState  Senate,  in  187 1,  when  he  resigned.  In 
1859,  while  Assessor,  he  became  interested  in  raising  sheep,  and  con- 
tinued in  that  business  until  1868.  Mr.  McCoy  prides  himself  that  he 
raised  the  best  flock  of  sheep  in  San  Diego  County.  In  1867  he 
bought  the  San  Bernardo,  a  four-league  ranch,  for  $4,000,  and  still 
owns  a  part  of  it.  It  is  situated  about  thirty  miles  from  San  Diego. 
Mr.  McCoy  served  one  term  of  four  years  in  the  Senate,  his  term  ex- 
piring in  1875.  While  in  the  Senate  he  used  his  best  efforts  to  arrange 
for  offering  subsidies  to  induce  the  building  of  a.  railroad  to  San  Diego. 
It  was  mainly  through  his  efforts  that  the  right  of  way  was  granted  to 
the  Texas  Pacific.  He  also  succeeded  in  having  a  bill  passed  author- 
izing the  city  to  issue  bonds  to  buy  the  San  Diego  and  Gila  Company 
— an  old  organization  formed  in  early  days.  This  company  had  suc- 
ceeded in  having  two  leagues  of  land  granted  them  by  the  Legislature 
for  the  purpose  of  building  their  road.  The  bonds  of  the  city  were 
issued  for  the  purpose  of  buying  up  the  rights  of  this  old  company,  as 
well  as  for  purchasing  the  right  of  way  for  the  Texas  Pacific. 

Mr.  McCoy  was  one  of  the  organizers  and  directors  of  the  Com- 
mercial Bank  of  vSan  Diego,  and  is  now  a  director  of  the  Consolidated 
Bank.  He  was  also  one  of  the  organizers  and  a  director  in  the  San 
Diego  Savings  Bank.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Com"^ 
mercial  Bank  of  Los  Angeles,  since  reorganized  and  now  known  as 
the  First  National  Bank,  in  which  he  is  a  stockholder.  He  has  been 
a  City  Trustee  for  fourteen  years.  There,  has  been  no  public  move- 
ment looking  to  the  advancement  of  San  Diego  that  has  not  had  Mr. 
McCoy's  active  countenance  and  assistance.  He  owns  considerable 
city  property,  and  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  the  San  Ber- 
nardo Ranch,  adjoining  Escondido.  He  resides  in  Old  San  Diego, 
where  he  has  a  fine  residence,  erected  eighteen  years  ago.  Mr. 
McCoy  was  married  in  Old  San  Diego,  May  17,  1868,  to  Miss  Winni- 
fred  Kearney.     They  have  no  children. 


ANDREW    CASSIDY. 


One  of  the  pioneer  residents  of  San  Diego  is  Andrew  Cassidy. 
He  is  a  native  of  County  Cavan,  Ireland.  When  seventeen  years  of 
age  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  landing  at  Boston.  Having 
had  the  advantage  of  an  excellent  education  in  his  native  land,  he  was 
well  prepared  to  accept  of  a  position,  which  was  offered  him  in  the  En- 
gineer Corps,  at  West  Point,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  George 


DIG  CRA  PiriCA  L  SKIi  TC IIILS. 


105 


B.  McClellan.  He  remained  at  the  Point  for  three  years,  and  from 
there  went  to  Washington,  where  he  was  em]>loyed  in  the  Coast  Sur- 
vey office,  under  Prolessor  Bates.  He  remained  in  that  position  about 
a  year,  when  he  was  ordered  out  to  the  Pacific  Coast  with  a  party  of 
five  others,  under  Capt.  W.  B.  Trovvbridg'e.  of  the  Eng'ineer  Corps, 
U.  S.  A.     The  party  came  by  the  way  of  the   Isthmus,  and  landed  at 


ANDREW  CASSIDY. 

San  Francisco  in  July,  1S53.  There  they  were  eno^aged  for  about  two 
months  in  putting-  up  a  self-registering  gauge  at  Fort  Point.  Leaving 
one  man  in  charge  the  others  started  for  S.ui  Diego.  They  chartered 
a  schooner  and  made  a  series  of  observations  on  the  way  dow:i  the 
coast.  They  entered  the  harbor  of  San  Diego,  and  landed  at  Point 
La  Playa,  where  they  \)\\l  up  another  gauge,  and  Cassidy  was  left  in 
charge.  He  was  stationed  here  in  charge  of  meteorological  and  tide 
observations  for  seventeen  years.    During  this  period  he  made  Old  San 


io6  CITY  AND  CO  (JN71 '  OF  SAN  DIEG O. 

Diego  his  headquarters  the  greater  part  of  the  time.  In  1864  he  saw 
an  excellent  opportunity  to  engage  in  stock-raising  and  ax-ailed  himself 
of  it.  He  employed  a  man  to  take  charge  of  the  details,  and  only  ex- 
ercised a  general  supervision  until  he  resigned  his  position  in  the  Coast 
Survey.  His  ranch,  which  was  then  known  as  Soledad,  situated  twelve 
miles  from  Old  Town,  contained  one  thousand  acres  of  exceedingly 
rich  land.  He  had  on  this  place  at  times  one  thousand  head  of  cattle. 
The  present  town  of  Sorrento  is  upon  this  ranch.  Mr.  Cassidy  con- 
tinued in  the  stock  business  from  1864  to  the  beginning  of  the  year  1887. 
He  then  sold  out  all  his  stock  interests  and  subdivided  his  ranch,  realiz- 
ing a  handsome  sum  from  the  proceeds  of  his  land  sales.  Besides  his 
interests  at  Sorrento  he  owns  considerable  city  and  suburban  property. 
He  served  one  term  as  city  trustee  in  1865,  and  again  in  1871  was 
elected  for  two  terms  (four  years). 

Mr.  Cassidy  has  been  twice  married>  but  is  now  a  widower.  He 
has  one  daughter,  born  to  his  second  wife.  Besides  conducting  his  large 
farming  interests,  Mr.  Cassidy  has  been  a  true  friend  to  San  Diego, 
contributing  his  share  towards  the  city's  material  advancement.  Per- 
sonally he  is  A'ery  courteous,  and  his  address  marks  him  as  one  who  has 
mingled  much  with  men  of  the  world.  He  is  extremely  popular  among 
his  acquaintances,  and  everywhere  regarded  as  at  once  a  progressive 
and  substantial  citizen. 


ROBERT  KELLY 


One  of  the  pioneer  residents  of  San  Diego  County  is  Robert  Kelly. 
The  ground  where  thirty-fi\'e  years  ago  his  cattle  grazed  at  will,  is  now 
the  site  of  a  thriving  city,  and  the  bay  on  the  shores  of  which  he  assisted 
in  building  the  first  wharf,  is^now  thronged  with  shipping  from  all  parts 
of  the  world.  Mr.  Kelly  was  born  on  the  Isle  of  Man,  Christmas  day, 
1825.  His  boyhood  days  were  spent  upon  a  form,  though  when  he  was 
about  fourteen  he  began  to  learn  the  carpenter's  trade.  When  he  was 
sixteen  years  old  he  left  with  his  parents  for  the  United  States.  They 
landed  at  New  Orleans.  Soon  afterward  his  parents  moved  to  Illinois, 
but  Robert  decided  to  earn  his  own  livelihood  and  remained  for  a  time 
in  Louisiana  working  as  a  carpenter.  He  went  from  there  to  St.  Louis, 
where  he  continued  at  carpentering  and  cabinet  making,  and  in  the 
evenings  after  his  day's  labor  was  over  he  attended  school.  Thus  he 
acquired  the  rudiments  of  a  fair  education  that  was  of  great  advantage 
to  him  in  after  years.  From  St.  Louis  he  went  to  Galena,  Illinois,  and 
then  to  the  Wisconsin  pineries,  where  for  about  a  year.he  was  engaged, 
most  of  the  time,  in  rafting  timber  on  the  Wisconsin  River.  At  the 
end  of  this  time,  he  went  to  Hancock  County,  Illinois,  where  he  worked 
at  his  trade.     In  the  summer  of  1850  he  started  across  the  plains  for 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


107 


California.  The  party  came  by  tiie  southern  route  and  their  objective 
point  was  Yuma  on  the  Colorado  River.  Here  Kelly  went  to  work  for 
the  Government  and  built  a  ferry-boat  to  cross  the  river.  This  craft  was 
made  out  of  cottonwood,  the  only  timber  ((rowing  there,  which  was 
sawed  with  a  whipsaw. 

After  a  few  months  he  crossed  the  State  to  .San  Diego.     Here  he 


ROBERT  KELLY. 

assisted  in  building  the  hrst  wharf  that  was  e\er  made  in  San  Diego 
harbor.  It  was  near  where  the  Santa  Fe  wharf  now  stands.  In  the 
latter  part  of  1851  he  went  to  work  for  the  Government  dri\!ng  a  six- 
mule  team,  hauling  freight  across  the  country  to  Fort  Yuma.  .A-fter 
several  trips  as  a  driver  he  was  appointed  wagon  master,  a  position  of 
greater  responsibility,  Init  more  agreeable.  In  September,  1S52,  he 
went  into  partnership  with  Colonel  Fddy  on  the  Jamacha  Ranch. where 
he  engaged  in  farming  and  cattle  raising.     He  planted  rye.  wheat,  oats, 


io8  CITY  AND    COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

burlc)'  and  potatoes  on  thruc  hundred  acres  and  made  a  success  of  it. 
The  ranch  contained  eii^ht  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-six 
acres  and  was  situated  about  tweK'e  miles  east  of  the  present  cit)^  of 
San  Diego.  At  the  time  lie  sold  out  his  interest  in  1857,  they  had  be- 
tween two  hundred  and  three  hundred  head  of  horses  and  one  thousand 
cattle,  and  their  stock  often  grazed  on  the  shores  of  the  bay,  where  is 
now  the  city  of  San  Diego.  Having  sold  out  his  interest  in  Jamacha  he 
went  into  the  mercantile  business  in  Old  San  Diego  with  Frank  Ames. 
He  continued  in  this  business  for  about  a  year.  In  i860  he  again  en- 
gaged in  cattle  raising  on  the  Agua  Hedionda  Ranch  in  partnership  with 
F.  Hinton.  This  ranch,  which  consisted  of  thirteen  thousand  three 
hundred  and  fourteen  acres,  is  situated  on  the  coast  thirty-five  miles 
north  of  the  city.  He  now  owns  the  whole  of  it,  with  the  exception  of 
three  hundred  and  sixty-four  acres,  which  he  sold,  and  makes  his  home 
there.  The  ranch  is  all  inclosed  with  twenty-five  miles  of  fence.  The 
California  Southern  Railroad  Company  has  a  station  on  the  ranch. 

Mr.  Kelly  has  had  cjuite  an  adventurous  life.  In  early  days  he 
was  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Plains.  These  were  men  appointed  by  the 
Supervisors  of  the  county  to  settle  all  disputes  over  the  ownership  of 
cattle.  They  naturally  provoked  enmity,  especially  from  the  lawless 
portion  of  the  community.  About  dark  on  the  evening  of  July  16, 
1856,  after  a  hard  day's  ride  looking  after  some  cattle,  he- was  attacked 
on  the  Cajon  Ranch  by  a  gang  of  Mexican  desperadoes  who  attempted 
to  kill  him.  They  succeeded  in  wounding  him  severely,  three  bullets 
taking  effect;  one  grazed  the  top  of  his  head,  one  struck  him  in  the 
back  of  the  neck,  sideways,  coming  out  about  two  inches  above,  and 
the  other  went  through  the  muscles  of  his  left  arm.  He  carries  the 
marks  of  these  wounds  to  this  day.  He  had  the  satisfaction  of  know- 
ing that  all  of  his  assailants  were  killed  a  short  time  after  in  a  revolution 
in  Lower  California,  Mexico. 

Mr.  Kelly  owns  a  good  deal  of  real  estate  in  the  city  and  considera- 
ble outside  property.  He  is  one  of  the  j^ublic-spirited  men  of  the  county 
and  has  contributed  liberally  to  every  movement  tending  to  advance 
the  public  interests.  He  gave  forty  acres  of  land  in  the  city  and  a 
money  consideration,  besides  the  right  of  way  through  his  ranch,  as  his 
share  towards  bringing  the  railroad  here. 

Although  over  sixty  years  ot  age,  Mr.  Kelly  is  as  alert  and  active 
as  most  men  twenty  years  younger.  The  many  days  spent  in  the  sad- 
dle and  nights  passed  beneath  the  canopy  ot  heaven  ha\'e  served  to  in- 
sure a  state  of  health  that  many  might  well  envy.  He  is  firmly  of  the 
opinion  that  there  is  no  place  like  San  Diego,  and  as  a  climate  for  pro- 
longing life  it  has  no  equal.     Mr.  Kelly  is  a  bachelor. 


I 


COLOXEL  C.   P.   XOELL. 


One  could  not  have  oeen  in  San  Diego  any  great  length  of  time 
up  to  the  latter  part  of  18S7  without  ha\'ing  his  attention  attracted  to  a 
tall,  fine-looking  old  gentleman,  with  silvery  hair  and  a  snowy  white 
beard,  slightly  bent,  as  he  walked  along  Fifth  Street,  haxing  a  pleasant 
word  and  a  kindly  greeting  for  all  his  acquaintances,  and  they  com- 
prised a  large  majority  of  those  he  met.  This  was  C(»l.  C.  P.  Noell, 
who  was  one  of  San  Diego's  oldest,  most  respected,  and  wealthiest 
citizens.  He  was  born  in  Bedford  County,  Virginia,  February  20, 
18 1 2.  His  parents  were  Virginians,  and  his  grandparents  were  also 
natives  of  the  Old  Dominion.  His  early  boyhood  was  passed  in 
Lynchburg.  He  received  his  education  at  a  school  in  Bedford  County, 
about  eighteen  miles  from  Lynchburg.  After  leaving  school  he  was 
engaged  in  mercantile  business  in  Lynchburg  until  1846.  He  then 
went  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  remained  a  few  months,  but  the  Mex- 
ican war  was  raging  at  the  time,  and  as  he  had  an  opportunity  to  enter 
upon  a  profitable  speculation  by  taking  a  stock  of  goods  to  Vera  Cruz, 
where  our  troops,  under  General  Scott,  had,  after  a  brief  siege,  become 
masters  of  the  city,  he  availed  himself  of  it.  Having  obtained  an  a})- 
pointment  as  sutler,  he  remained  in  \'era  Cruz  for  eighteen  months. 
Disposing  of  his  goods  to  advantage  at  the  end  of  that  time,  he 
went  to  New  York,  and  in  a  (ew  months  afterwards — in  Novem- 
ber, 1848 — he  sailed  for  California,  doubling  Cape  Horn,  in  com- 
pany with  General  Mason,  the  first  military  governor  of  our  new  ac- 
quisition on  the  shores  of  the  far-away  Pacific.  The  vessel  in  which 
he  took  passage  was  the  Si/vie  de  Grasse,  and  had  been  a  packet 
running  between  New  York  and  Havre,  France.  There  were  three 
other  vessels  sailing  in  the  fleet,  all  loaded  with  troops.  Noell  was 
then  in  partnership  with  Samuel  Hewes,  who  afterwards  engaged  in 
business  in  the  young  city  of  San  Francisco,  but  was  burned  out  several 
times  and  finally  went  to  Australia.  Mr.  Noell  landed  in  San  Fran- 
cisco in  April,  1849.  He  had  brought  with  him  a  stock  of  piece 
goods,  which  did  not  prove  adapted  to  the  market,  so  he  shipped 
them  up  to  Oregon  City,  and  there  disposed  of  them  to  advantage. 
He  then  returned  to  San  Francisco  and  engaged  in  merchandising 
from  July,  1849,  to  December  of  that  year,  when  the  first  of  the  big 
fires  that  devastated  San  Francisco  in  its  early  days  occurred,  and 
swept  away  everything  he  had.  In  February,  1S50,  he  came  to  San 
Diego,  then  situated  at  Old  Town,  and  erected  the  first  wooden  build- 
ing in  the  place.     It  is  still  standing  there  on  the  Plaza.     This  build- 

(109) 


no 


CITY  AND    COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


ing  was  framed  and  packed  in  the  East,  and  had  been  sent  around  the 
Horn  to  San  Francisco.  Colonel  Noell  saw  it  there,  and  purchased  it, 
shipping  it  to  San  Diego  by  sailing  vessel.  In  this  building  the 
Colonel  carried  on  a  general  merchandise  business  for  a  year  and 
a  half,  having  as  a  partner  Judge  John  Hayes.  In  company  with 
M.  M.  Sexton  and  James  Fitten,  the  Colonel  bought  a  schooner  in  San 


COLONEL.  C.  P.  NOELL. 

Francisco.  He  loaded  it  with  a  miscellaneous  cargo  and  started  down 
the  coast.  He  sailed  up  the  Gulf  of  California,  and  having  disposed  of 
his  stock  and  vessel  to  advantage,  he  bought  a  large  band  ol  sheep  in 
Sonora,  and  shipped  them  across  the  Gulf,  from  Guyamas  to  Moleje. 
From  the  latter  point  the  Colonel  started  to  drive  them  overland  to 
San  Diego.  The  ^country  was  a  rough  one,  and  for  seventy-five  miles 
there  was  no  water  to  be  had.  They  carried  a  little  with  them,  packed 
in  rawhide  pouches,  but,  as  might  be  expected,  they  were  on  short  al- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  iii 

lowance.  Over  this  arid  waste  progress  was  slow  and  fatiguing  in  the 
extreme,  and  many  of  the  sheep  droj)ped  down  and  died.  They 
started  with  thirty-six  hundred,  and  on  reaching  San  Diego  had  about 
three  thousand.  In  1853  the  Colonel  sold  out  his  business  in  Old 
Town  to  his  })artner,  Hayes.  He  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature 
by  the  Democrats,  in  the  autumn  of  1853.  The  Legislature  fussem- 
bled  in  Benicia,  in  December,  and  a  month  later  removed  to  Sacra- 
mento. Here  they  remained  in  session  continuously  until  May  of  the 
following  year.  There  was  no  public  business  of  importance  trans- 
acted, the  whole  time  of  the  session  being  occupied  in  an  effort  to 
elect  a  United  States  Senator.  The  Legislature  was  largely  Demo- 
cratic, but  there  was  a  strong  wing  of  the  party  opposed  to  David  C. 
Broderick,  the  leading  candidate,  and  after  months  of  debating,  wrang- 
ling, and  balloting  they  adjourned,  unable  to  effect  a  choice.  The 
next  year  Broderick  overcame  the  opposition  and  was  elected. 

After  his  return  from  the  Legislature  Colonel  Xoell  went  to  Central 
America,  where  he  remained  two  or  three  years  traveling  through  the 
country,  in  company  with  several  others,  prospecting  for  gold.  He 
then  went  to  New  Orleans,  going  across  the  State  of  Honduras,  and 
thence  by  the  Carribean  Sea.  He  remained  a  short  time  in  New 
Orleans,  and  then  went  into  Texas  to  visit  his  brother,  with  whom  he 
remained  several  years.  In  1870  he  returned  to  San  Diego,  but  re- 
mained only  a  short  time,  going  back  to  Texas.  Three  years  later, 
however,  he  came  back  to  San  Diego  to  settle  down,  after  his  many 
wanderings,  for  good. 

In  1850  Colonel  Noell,  with  ten  others,  bought  the  addition  to  San 
Diego  known  as  Middletow^n.  This  proved  a  very  lucrative  in\est- 
ment.  In  addition  to  this  he  owned  considerable  real  estate  in  other 
parts  of  the  city.  He  was  formerly  a  member  of  the  real  estate  firm 
of  Morse,  Noell  &  Whaley,  but  retired  from  active  business  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1886.  Colonel  Noell  did  his  full  share  towards  placing  San 
Diego  in  connection  with  the  outside  world  by  means  of  the  railroad, 
and  had  generally  interested  himself  in  all  jirojects  tending  to  benefit 
the  city.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Building  and  Loan  Association, 
and  a  stockholder  and  director  in  the  Old  Town  Electric  Railroad. 
Colonel  Noell  was  never  marrietl.  He  died  in  this  city  January  30, 
1888,  leaving  a  very  valuable  estate. 


J.  S.  MANNASSE. 


Joseph  S.  Mannasse  is  another  of  those  sterhng  pioneers  who 
has  seen  San  Diego  grow  from  a  sleepy  adobe  settlement  to  a  thriving 
city.  He  has  the  proud  satisfaction,  too,  of  feeling  that  to  the  enter- 
prise of  men  hke  him  the  present  prosperity  of  the  young  metropolis 
is  largely  due. 

Mr.  Mannasse  was  born  in  Filehne,  Prussia,  August  3,  1831.  His 
early  boyhood  was  spent  with  his  parents  in  his  nati\'e  town,  but  at  the 
age  of  thirteen  he  began  to  think  of  supporting  himself,  and  soon  went 
to  work  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  furrier  and  cap  maker.  He  ser\ed 
three  years  as  an  apprentice  in  Filehne.  At  the  end  of  this  time  he  be- 
gan work  as  a  journeyman  at  the  salary  of  $20  a  year.  After  serving 
two  years  he  was  given  charge  of  the  entire  business  of  the  establish- 
ment with  twenty-five  men  under  him,  his  pay  being  increased  to  $50 
per  annum.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  left  home  for  the  United  States, 
and  landed  in  New  York,  October  15,  1850.  When  he  stepped  upon 
the  wharf  his  entire  capital  amounted  to  one  gold  dollar.  The  very 
morning  of  his  arrival  he  walked  down  Wall  Street,  and  seeing  the  sign 
of  a  cap  maker  he  entered  the  store  of  Eddy  Brothers  and  asked  for 
work.  They  gave  him  employment  at  once.  The  first  year  of  his  resi- 
dence in  New  York  he  made  $75.  After  a  year  or  two  he  was  promoted 
and  was  made  cutter  and  manager.  In  April,  1S53,  he  started  for  Cali- 
fornia, sailing  on  the  steamer  Star  of  the  West,  by  the  way  of  Nicaraugua. 
He  was  obliged  to  remain  six  weeks  on  the  Isthmus,  awaiting  transpor- 
tation. Finally  the  old  steamer  Pacific  arrived,  and  he  started  with  a 
large  company  of  other  passengers.  Coming  up  the  coast  they  entered 
the  harbor  of  San  Diego,  coming  to  an  anchor  off  La  Playa.  This 
was  on  Sunday,  May  28,  1853.  Mr.  Mannasse  with  several  others  came 
ashore  and  visited  the  old  town  of  San  Diego.  He  little  thought  at 
that  time  it  would  be  his  future  home.  The  same  evening  the  steamer 
sailed  for  San  Francisco.  He  was  not  as  well  pleased  with  San  Fran- 
cisco as  he  expected  to  be,  and  after  remaining  there  a  month  he  de- 
termined to  return  to  San  Diego.  He  left  on  the  steamer  Goliah,  and 
after  a  four  days'  voyage  down  the  coast,  touching  at  the  different 
ports,  he  arrived  in  San  Diego  the  second  time,  June  28,  1853.  His 
cash  resources  amounted  to  $200,  and  he  determined  to  lose  no  time 
in  engaging  in  some  business.  Accordingly  he  purchased  a  dry-goods 
box  of  Hinton,  Raymond  &  Morse,  then  the  leading  merchants  of  the 
place,  paying  therefor  the  sum  of  $2.00.  Out  of  this  he  made  a  shelf 
and  a  counter,  and  the  next  day  he  invested  the  balance  of  his  capital 
(112)  ^ 


BIO  GRA  PHICA  L  SKJi  TC  1 1  US. 


1 1 


in  dry  goods,  etc.  The  first  day  after  beginning  business,  his  sales 
amounted  to  S98,  and  they  continued  to  steadily  increase  from  that 
time.  He  gradually  enlarged  his  trading  facilities  and  soon  had  a 
commodious  store.  In  1855  he  was  robbed  of  $100  in  cash,  h)ut  burg- 
lary was  not  a  common  crime  at  that  day.  In  1856  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with    M.    Schiller.      In    r868  the  firm  started  a  lumber-yard  at 


J.  S.  MANNASSE. 

the  foot  of  Atlantic  and  E  Streets,  and  soon  did  a  large  tratle,  carrying 
on  their  general  merchandise  business  at  the  same  time.  In  1S70 
Tom  Scott  began  his  railroad^  and  the  demand  for  lumber  was  very 
brisk.  Thev  also  had  a  large  ranch  at  Encinitas,  which  was  heavily 
stocked.  In  1870  the  drouth  came,  and  in  order  to  save  their  stock 
thev  drove  it  down  into  Lower  California.  The  dry  season  had  a  most 
disastrous  effect  on  everything.  It  was  largely  instrumental  in  causing 
the  collapse  of  the  railroad  boom,  and  ruined  a  great  many  ranchers. 


114  CITY  AND    COUNTY  OF  SAX  JUKGO. 

It  bore  very  hard  on  the  firm  of  Mannasse  c\:  Schiller,  but  they 
weathered  the  storm,  although  they  lost  $100,000,  in  various  amounts, 
all  of  which  is  standing  on  their  books  to  this  day.  Since  then  Mr. 
Mannasse  has  been  engaged  in  various  kinds  of  business  with  differ- 
ent degrees  of  success.  At  one  time  he  happened  to  be  so  badly  off 
that  there  was  only  only  one  firm  in  San  Diego  that  would  give  him 
credit  for  a  sack  of  flour. 

Mr.  Mannasse  has  always  been  one  of^the  most  liberal  citizens, 
and  there  has  never  been  a  public  undertaking  to  which  he  has  not 
given  his  hearty  indorsement.  There  has  never  been  a  charity  pro- 
posed, or  a  church  or  a  school  started,  that  he  has  not  contributed  to- 
wards. He  was  one  of  the  principal  movers  in  establishing  the  Poor 
Farm  and  Hospital.  He  was  a  Supervisor  for  several  terms,  and  has 
been  ele6led  a  City  Trustee  two  or  three  times.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Board  when  Mr.  Horton  purchased  his  addition  on  which  the  bus- 
iness portion  of  San  Diego  is  now  located.  He  worked  early  and  late  to 
secure  the  building  of  the  present  railroad,  and  has  been  at  different 
times  interested  in  wharf  and  other  substantial  enterprises.  He  now 
owns  a  good  deal  of  city  property  and  country  real  estate.  He  is  a 
part  owner  of  the  Mannasse  &  Schiller  Addition,  and  in  Mannasse  & 
Schiller's  subdivision.  He  is  still  interested  in  cattle  and  owns  con- 
siderable live  stock.  His  principal  business  now  is  that  of  a  broker 
and  collector. 

Mr.  Mannasse  was  married  in  1S67  to  Miss  Hannah  Schiller,  a 
sister  of  his  partner,  M.  Schiller.     They  have  one  daughter. 


CHARLES  A.  WETMORE. 


One  of  the  most  energetic  and  public-spirited  of  San  Diego's  citizens 
is  Charles  A.  Wetmore.  He  was  born  in  Portland,  Maine,  January  20, 
1847,  ^i^it  came  to  California  when  nine  years  of  age  with  his  mother 
and  other  members  of  the  family,  whither  his  father,  Jesse  L.  Wetmore, 
who  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  State  and  prominent  in  the  early 
days  in  the  development  of  San  Francisco,  had  preceded  them.  In  his 
business  as  a  contractor  he  built  the  old  Meiggs  Wharf,  and  the  first 
Music  Hall  in  the  city.  Afterwards  he  was  engaged  for  fourteen 
years  in  railroad  building,  and  opening  guano  mines  in  Chili,  Bolivia, 
and  Peru. 

In  1859  Charles,  then  twelve  years  old,  while  a  student  in  the 
Hyde  Street  Grammar  School,  in  company  with  R.  L.  Taber,  edited, 
printed,  and  published  the  Yo2ing  Ca/i/orman,  which  was  the  first  juve- 
nile paper  on  the  coast.  He  afterward  attended  the  Oakland  College 
School  preparatory  to  entering  the  College  of  California  in   1864,  from 


BIO  GRA  PHICA  L  SKIi  TCHES. 


"5 


which  he  graduated,  being  valedictorian  of  his  class  in  1868,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one. 

During  the  last  year  of  his  college  course  young  Wetmore's  activ- 
ity of  mind  drew  his  attention  to  the  labor  problem  and  he  became 
Secretary  of  the  House  Carpenters'  Eight  Hf)ur  League.      He  sor)n  suc- 
f     ceeded  in  organizing  all  the  leagues  of  Alameda  County  into  the  Me- 


CII.\RLES  A.  WETMORE. 

chanics'  Institute,  of  which  he  was  elected  President.  While  living  at 
home  he  paid  all  his  college  expenses.  During  the  last  two  years  ot 
his  college  course  he  was  the  Oakland  reporter  for  the  San  Francisco 
Bulletin.  His  vacations  were  spent  in  e.xploring  the  State  on  practical 
missions.  In  the  summer  vacation  of  1866  he  took  charge  of  the  level- 
ing party  of  an  expedition  which  was  conducted  under  a  State  appro- 
priation, directed  by  Hon.  Charles  F.  Reed,  in  the  Sacramento  \*alley. 
to  determine  the  practicability  and  cost  of  bringing  the  waters  ot  the 


1 16  CITY  AXD  CO  L 'NTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

Sacramento  from  Red  Bluff,  along  the  Coast  Range,  through  the  counties 
of  Tehama,  Colusa,  Yolo  and  Solano.  In  1867  he  devoted  the  summer, 
at  the  request  of  the  college  authorities,  to  canvassing  the  central, 
northern  and  mining  counties  on  behalf  of  the  proposed  erection  of 
a  State  university.  His  success  in  awakening  j)ublic  sentiment  was  so 
great  that,  when  at  the  next  session  the  question  came  before  the  Legis- 
lature, there  was  practically  no  opposition  to  the  plan  of  the  founders  of 
the  College  of  California,  whose  magnificent  property  at  Berkeley  was 
accepted  by  the  State  as  the  first  endowment  of  what  is  now  the  State 
University.  As  a  testimony  of  their  appreciation  of  his  labors  the 
trustees  declined  to  accept  any  further  payment  of  dues  from  Mr.  Wet- 
more.  He  was  also  honored  by  having  the  degrees  ol  Bachelor  of  Arts 
and  Master  of  Arts  conferred  upon  him.  On  the  day  of  graduation  he 
was  elected  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Associated  Alumni  of  the 
Pacific. 

In  1868,  innnediately  after  his  graduation,  Mr  Wetmore  came  to 
San  Diego,  which  it  was  even  then  whispered  was  to  be  a  future  com- 
mercial metropolis.  He  had  a  strong  taste  for  journalism  and  he  in- 
tended to  publish  a  newspaper,  but  changed  his  mind  and  established  a 
real  estate  agency,  the  first  one  in  the  new  city.  He  had  had  printed  an 
outline  map  of  the  harbor  and  had  copies  of  it  placed  conspicuously  m 
San  Francisco  ofifices  to  attract  attention.  In  company  with  Mr.  Win- 
field  Curtis  he  negotiated  his  first  sale — the  San  Bernardo  Ranch.  At 
that  time  the  first  small  house  was  being  built  on  Fifth  Street  in  Hor- 
ton's  Addition,  and  the  business  of  the  town  w-as  conducted  in  Old  San 
Diego.     There  was  no  wharf  and  no  railroad. 

Studying  law  and  searching  records  led  him  into  partnership  \\ith 
Solon  P.  S.  Sanborn,  a  very  able  lawyer,  then  practicing  here.  The 
members  of  the  firm  devoted  themselves  to  unraveling  and  perfecting 
old  land  titles.  There  were  a  horde  of  squatters  here  then,  who,  influ- 
enced by  unprincipled  lawyers,  were  misled  into  seizing  of  the  property 
of  absent  owners  with  the  hope  of  defeating  their  titles.  They  claimed 
that  the  city  lands  had  been  improperly  disposed  of  and  a  reign  of  con- 
fusion was  threatened.  Mr.  Wetmore  was  one  of  the  organizers  and  a 
leading  member  of  the  Pueblo  League,  whose  mission  it  was  to  protect 
the  interests  of  bona  fide  holders  of  property  from  the  raids  of  these 
land  sharks.  An  attempt  was  made  at  one  time  to  steal  Cleveland's 
Addition,  and  Mr.  Wetmore,  in  company  with  Clarence  L.  Carr  and 
Major  Swope,  armed  for  defense,  rode  up  from  Old  Town,  destroyed  the 
string  fences  before  they  were  completed,  and  stood  guard  all  day  to 
prevent  further  aggression.  On  another  occasion,  by  his  prompt  and 
energetic  action,  he  thwarted  the  scheme  of  a  party  of  real  estate  pirates 
who  attempted  to  steal  one  hundred  and  forty  acres,  including  the  pres- 
ent site  of  the  court-house  and  all  the  land  from  the  bay  to  Hcrton's 
Addition,  on  the  north  side  of  D  .Street. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  Sk'i:  7X  IfES.  1 1 7 

This  unequal  contest  became  uncoinlortahlv  warm  for  all  ]jarties 
and  a  bill  was  drawn  up  by  Messrs.  Wetmore  and  Sanborn,  c(jnrtrming 
the  act  of  the  old  Alcaldes  and  city  trustees,  and  urtjed  before  the  Legis- 
lature so  strongly  by  Mr.  Wetmore  that  it  was  passed.  This  ])Ut  an 
end  to  the  squatter  controversy  and  laid  the  ftjundation  for  public  con- 
fidence in  land  titles  in  San  Diego. 

During  the  dull  period  following  the  dry  season  of  1869-70  Mr. 
Wetmore  joined  his  father  in  his  railroad  work  in  the  Cordilleras 
of  Peru,  for  one  year.  Upon  his  return  to  California  he  became  at- 
tached to  the  editorial  staff  of  the  Alta  California.  He  was  .soon  sent 
to  Washington  as  the  special  correspondent  of  that  paper,  and  while  at 
the  national  capital  he  had  frequent  opportunity  to  aid  San  Diego  in 
her  contests  with  giant  monopolies.  He  secured  for  the  ex-mission 
lands  the  United  States  Patents,  which  expedited  the  settlement  of  titles 
to  our  neighboring  lands.  During  his  stay  in  W^ashington  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Land  Attorneys'  Association. 

In  1S75  he  was  appointed  by  the  Government  special  commissioner 
to  report  upon  the  condition  of  the  Mission  Indians  in  this  countv, 
and  during  a  flurry  of  excitement  along  the  Mexican  border  he  secured 
an  order  of  the  War  Department  establishing  the  military  post,  which  is 
still  here. 

In  1878  he  was  appointed  delegate  for  the  California  Viticultural 
Association  to  the  Paris  Exposition.  The  letters  written  during  his 
study  of  vineyards  in  France  to  the  Alta  Califoriiia  created  a  sensa- 
tion throughout  the  country,  and  aroused  the  people  to  the  importance 
of  developing  viticulture  on  a  grander  scale  than  had  been  dreamed  of 
before. 

On  his  return  trom  Paris  he  married  a  young  lady  of  Washington 
and  abandoned  journalism,  returning  to  California  to  reside  perma- 
nently. He  perfected  the  organization  of  the  State  Viticultural  Com- 
mission and  for  several  years  he  devoted  his  whole  time  and  all  his  en- 
ergy to  the  development  of  the  industry  which  he  had  aroused.  As 
one  of  the  members  of  the  State  Board,  \'ice-President  and  Chief  Ex- 
ecutive Officer  and  later  President  of  the  National  \'iticultural  Associ- 
ation organized  in  Washington  in  18S6,  Mr.  Wetmore  accomplished 
an  amount  of  work  in  behalf  of  California's  \iticultural  interests  that  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  estimate. 

During  all  these  years  he  managed  to  make  occasional  visits  to 
San  Diego,  always  looking  upon  it  as  his  permanent  home.  The  Es- 
condido  town  site  and  vinevards  were  laid  out  under  his  influence  by  a 
company  organized  in  Stockton,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  but  which 
subsequently  transferred  the  property  to  the  present  management. 

During  the  past  summer  Mr.  W^etmore  opened  an  office  in  San 
Diego,  having  resigned   his  position  as  Chief  Executive  Officer  ot  the 


iiS 


CITY  AND   COUXTV  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


State  \'iticultural  Commission,  and  is  once  more  an  active  citizen  of  San 
Diego.  Here,  surrounded  by  his  family,  he  purposes  setthng  down  to 
enjoy  the  fruition  of  many  years  of  past  hopes.  He  has  done  much  in 
the  past  towards  laying  the  foundation  that  led  to  the  development  of 
the  San  Diego  of  to-day.  In  the  future  his  active  energy  and  indomit- 
able pluck  will  aid  in  building  up  the  great  city  that  is  bound  to  be. 


GEORGE  B.  HE.N'SLEY. 

GEORGE    B.   HENSLEY 


One  of  the  best  known  and  most  energetic  of  San  Diego's  business 
men  is  George  B.  Hensley.  Mr.  Hensley  is  a  native  of  England,  hav- 
ing been  born  in  Cornwall,  November  26,  1847.  His  early  boyhood 
was  spent  in  Cornwall  and  he  attended  school  there  until  he  was  thirteen 
years  old.  He  then  went  to  work  in  the  mines,  where  he  remained  five 
years.     At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  started  for  the  great  city  of  London. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  119 

There  he  soon  obtained  a  pcjsition  in  the  (jffice  of  a  shipping  and  insur- 
ance broker.  He  remained  in  London  for  four  years.  The  last  busi- 
ness he  was  engaged  in  there  was  in  a  wholesale  silk  and  lace  house. 
In  the  spring  of  1869  he  left  England  for  California  by  way  of  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama.  He  arrived  in  San  Diego  in  the  month  of  June 
and  at  once  took  up  a  ranch  in  Tia  J  nana  Valley.  In  the  early  part  of 
1870  he  became  interested  in  mining  with  his  brother,  who  di.scovered 
the  Stonewall  Mine  at  Julian.  Three  months  afterward  he  went  to  .San 
Francisco,  where  he  remained  a  year.  He  then  returned  to  San  Diego, 
when  he  was  appointed  Deputy  County  Clerk,  a  position  which  he  held 
until  March,  1872.  He  then  opened  an  abstract  office,  a  business  in  which 
he  was  engaged  till  October,  1876.  On  account  of  his  health  he  then 
moved  into  the  country  on  a  ranch,  where  he  remained  until  the  following 
year,  when  he  was  appointed  United  .States  Inspector  of  Customs  on  the 
Mexican  line.  This  office  he  retained  for  seven  years.  In  May,  1884, 
he  went  to  Portland,  Oregon,  where  he  spent  a  yaar.  Then  he  came 
back  to  San  Diego  and  has  since  been  engaged  in  the  abstract  and  real 
estate  business. 

Mr.  Hensley  has  been  one  of  the  most  active  promoters  of  the 
growth  of  San  Diego.  He  has  been  identified  with  all  public  movements 
and  has  invested  liberally  in  every  enterprise  having  for  its  object  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  city.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  San  Diego 
Building  and  Loan  Association  and  for  two  years  acted  as  its  Secretary. 
He  is  a  stockholder  in,  and  present  Secretary  of,  the  San  Diego  and 
Old  Town  Railroad  Company,  and  a  large  stockholder  and  Secretary  of 
the  Pacific  Beach  Company.  He  is  also  an  active  member  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  He  always  had  strong  faith  in  the  ultimate 
growth  of  San  Diego,  and  to-day  holds  real  estate  which  he  purchased 
when  he  first  came  here.  He  owns  a  good  deal  of  city  property  and  is 
largely  interested  in  Pacific  Beach,  which  is  destined  to  be,  probably,  the 
most  attractive  of  San  Diego's  suburbs.  He  has  a  residence  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  Ninth  and  D  Streets,  which  he  erected  two  years  ago. 
Mr.  Hensley  was  married  in  this  city  in  1873  to  Miss  Hulda  Bowers, 
sister  of  Senator  W.  W.  Bowers.      He  has  four  children. 

It  is  to  men  like  George  B.  Hensley  that  San  Diego  is  largely  in- 
debted for  the  rapid  progress  she  has  made  during  the  past  two  or  three 
years.  Public-spirited,  generous,  progressive,  he  is  an  excellent  type 
of  the  true  American  citizen. 


WILLIAM    E.   HIGH. 


More  than  t\venty-ti\e  years  ago  a  little  book  was  published  that  at- 
tracted wide  attention,  and  was  the  subject  of  considerable  comment. 
It  was  entitled,  "  Ten  Acres  Enough,"  and  was  written  to  show  how 
much  the  owner  of  ten  acres  of  land  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey  had 
raised;  how  he  had  supported  his  family,  saved  a  considerable  sum  each 
year,  and  lived  an  independent  and  contented  life.  In  the  vicinity  of 
San  Diego  there  might  be  found  a  counterpart  of  this  New  Jersey  farmer's 
experience  on  one-half  the  amount  of  land.  The  results  that  ha\'e  fol- 
lowed the  thorough  cultivation  of  a  plot  of  five  acres  of  rich  soil  in  the 
Chcjlla  \'alley  have  been  often  told,  but  there  is  comparatively  little 
known  of  the  man  whose  industry  and  judicious  care  caused  the  earth 
to  vield  such  abundant  returns. 

William  E.  High  was  born  in  Berks  County,  Pennsvlvania,  on  the 
first  day  of  January,  1830.  He  remained  on  his  farther's  farm  until  he 
was  twenty  years  old,  attending  the  district  schools  as  opportunity 
offered.  Then  he  went  to  Chester  County  and  lived  with  an  uncle  for 
two  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  returned  to  the  old  farm.  About 
a  year  after  this  his  father  died,  and  then  the  place  was  sold  and  he  hired 
out  to  work  on  '\  farm  in  the  same  county.  He  remained  there  for 
three  years,  and  during  that  time  taught  the  district  school  for  one  ses- 
sion. Afterwards  he  went  to  Bucks  County  and  during  1856-57  ran  a 
saw-mill.  The  latter  part  of  1857,  however,  saw  him  back  again  in 
Berks  County,  where  he  stayed  until  the  following  spring.  These  fre- 
(luent  changes  in  business  had  tended  to  unsettle  him  somewhat  and  he 
decided  to  seek  a  new  country.  He  had  heard  much  of  California,  and 
the  fortunes  that  had  been  acquired  in  that  distant  land.  Thither  then 
he  determined  to  journey.  After  two  weeks  spent  in  New  York  City 
he  set  sail  on  the  Star  of  the  West  for  Cuba,  and  from  there  took  pas- 
sage on  the  Nexu  Granada  for  Aspinwall.  Crossing  the  isthmus  he 
took  X.\\e  John  L.  Stephens  at  Panama,  and  after  an  uneventful  voyage 
he  arrived  at  San  P>ancisco,  the  15th  of  May,  1858.  The  same  day  he 
left  for  Sacramento,  and  from  there  went  through  Placer  and  El  Dorado 
Counties.  At  Diamond  Springs,  in  the  latter  county,  he  worked  in  a 
saw-mill  for  six  months.  Then  he  went  to  Nevada  County,  where  he 
engaged  in  mining,  following  that  business  with  varying  degrees  of  suc- 
cess for  nearly  ten  years.  During  this  time  he  was  located  at  Moore's 
Flat  and  at  North  San  Juan.  Early  in  1868  he  visited  San  Francisco, 
(120) 


BIOGRAPHICAL  Sk'I-  IX  7IES. 


121 


and  while  there  made  up  his  mind  to  come  U>  the  southern  part  of  tlie 
State.  He  accordingly  went  back  to  Nevada  County,  settled  up  his 
business,  and  in  the  following  spring  started  for  San  Diego,  arriving 
here  on  the  2d  of  March.  Being  well  pleased  with  the  outlook  he  de- 
cided to  remain.  He  located  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
*    eighteen  miles  southeast  of  the  city,  but  sold  it  in  six  months'  time  and 


WILLIAM   E.  HIGH. 


settled  on  another  piece  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  adjoin- 
ing the  National  Ranch  Grant,  ten  miles  from  San  Diego.  He  culti- 
vated a  small  portion  of  this  in  fruit,  and  remained  on  it  for  four  years, 
during  which  time  he  acquired  a  title,  after  some  difficulty  experienced, 
some  parties  clainyng  it  as  a  Mexican  grant.  About  the  ist  of  January, 
1874,  he  moved  to  Cholla  X'alley,  two  and  one-half  miles  from  San 
Diego,  where  he  purchased  five  acres  of  land,  and  there  he  and  his 
brother   engaged  in  raising  fruit  of  different  varieties.     They  experi- 


122  CITY  AXn    COrXTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

merited  with  various  kinds  until  they  found  what  was  most  suitable  to 
the  soil  and  climate,  and  those  varieties  they  adhered  too.  The  result 
was  that  they  soon  acquired  the  reputation  of  raising  the  finest  fruits  to 
be  found  in  this  section,  and  the  product  of  their  orchard  commanded 
the  highest  prices. 

Mr.  High  still  remains  on  this  famous  place,  and,  with  his  brother, 
still  cultivates  it.  In  April,  1876,  he  went  East  to  attend  the  Centennial 
and  while  absent  was  married.  He  returned  in  October  with  his  bride. 
Two  and  a  half  years  later  she  died;  her  maiden  name  was  Susan 
Bechtel.  For  the  last  eight  years  Mr.  High  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Cemetery  Commission  of  San  Diego;  he  was  the  first  President  of  the 
San  Diego  Horticultural  Society  and  is  now  its  Vice-President.  He 
was  one  of  the  Directors  and  Vice-President  for  two  years  of  the  Con- 
solidated National  Bank,  and  was  a  stockholder  in  the  old  San  Diego 
Bank  before  the  consolidation.  He  is  interested  in  the  San  Diego  and 
Cuyamaca  Railroad,  now  in  the  course  of  construction.  Four  years 
ago  he  bought  about  two  thousand  acres  of  land  in  the  Cuyamaca  Grant, 
and  he  and  his  brother  now  own  three  thousand  acres  there,  which  is 
used  for  grazing  purposes,  and  they  have  over  two  hundred  head  of 
cattle  on  it.  Mr.  High  and  his  brother  are  equally  interested  in  all  their 
enterprises,  and  together  they  own  considerable  city  and  outside  prop- 
erty. The  site  of  Otay  was  sold  by  his  brother  to  the  present  owners. 
Together  they  contributed  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  fine  land  as  a 
bonus  to  the  California  Southern  to  induce  them  to  build  their  road 
here.  Mr.  High  has  contributed  liberally  to  all  public  movements,  and 
although  of  a  retiring  disposition,  he  is  in  reality  one  of  San  Diego's 
most  progressive  and  substantial  citizens.  It  is  to  the  earnest  and 
well-timed  efforts  of  men  like  William  E.  High  that  the  present  pros- 
perous condition  of  this  thriving  city  is  largely  due. 


AARON   PAULY 


A  California  pioneer  and  one  of  the  oldest  residents  of  San  Diego 
is  Aaron  Pauly.  Mr.  Pauly  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Warren  County, 
Ohio,  May  24,  181 2.  His  father  died  when  he  was  five  years  of  age. 
His  youth  and  early  manhood  were  passed  in  Warren  County,  and,  until 
he  was  fourteen,  on  a  farm.  When  thirty  years  old  he  started  West  and 
located  in  Quincy,  Illinois,  where  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business 
and  remained  until  the  spring  of  1849.  Gold  had  been  discovered  in 
California,  and  emigrants  were  flocking  to  the  new  El  Dorado  from  all 
parts  of  the  civilized  world.  Mr.  Pauly  formed  a  party  and  started  across 
the  plains  for  the  Pacific  Coast  in  the  spring  of  that  eventful  year. 
Travelers  and  tourists  of  the  present  day,  journeying  overland  in  Pull- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  Skl'/rCIfl.S. 


123 


man  coaches,  can  have  but  slight  conception  of  the  fatigues,  dangers, 
and  delays  that  attended  a  journey  to  California  in  1S49.  Each  of  the 
different  routes  had  its  hardships.  The  voyager  by  sea  was  tossed 
and  buffeted  about  in  closely-packed  and  ill-provisioned  ships  for 
months;  those  who  journeyed  by  way  of  the  Isthmus,  in  addition  to  the 
discomforts  of  a  sea  voyage,  were  compelled  to  pass  through  the  fevrr- 


AARON  PAULY. 

stricken  districts  of  the  Isthmus;  the  march  across  the  })lains  was  long 
and  arduous;  the  trains  were  liable  to  attacks  from  Indians,  their  cattle 
often  died  from  want  of  water  and  proper  pasturage,  and,  in  some  cases, 
the  emigrants  themsel\-es  fell  \'ictims  to  the  drought.  There  were  twenty- 
five  persons  in  the  train  with  which  Mr.  Pauly  crossed  the  plains.  They 
came  by  the  way  of  Salt  Lake  and  the  Truckee  River,  stopping  finally 
at  Coloma,  a  mining  camp  neai  Sacramento,  built  on  the  site  of  Sutter's 
Mill,  in  the  race-way  of  which  gold  had  been  disco\-ered  two  )-ears  before, 


1 24  CirV  AND   CO  UNT ) '  ( )F  S.l.V  DIEGO. 

by  John  W.  MarsliaH.  Mr.  l*aiil\'  reniaiiK-d  at  Colonia  (hiring"  the 
winter  of  1849-50,  but  in  the  spring"  went  to  the  mines  in  Butte  County, 
where  he  remained  for  two  )^ears.  Having  been  (juite  prosperous  in 
his  ventures,  he  bouglit  a  large  stock  ranch  at  Spring  Valley,  Yuba 
County,  twelve  miles  from  Marysville.  Here  he  made  his  home  till 
1865.  He  then  disposed  ot  the  ranch  and  removed  to  Marysville,  where 
he  remained  three  years,  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  with  his 
sons,  F.  N.  andC.  W.  Pauly.  In  1869,  on  account  of  ill  health,  he  dis- 
I)osed  of  his  business  in  Marysville  and  moved  to  San  Diego.  Horton's 
Wharf  had  just  been  completed  and  Mr.  Pauly  landed  the  first  stock  of 
goods  upon  it.  He  opened  a  store,  which  was  connected  with  the  wharf, 
and  had  charge  of  the  latter.  At  this  time  he  had  considerable  trouble 
\\  ith  Ben  Holladay,  who  refused  to  allow  his  steamers  to  touch  at  Hor- 
ton's Wharf  Finally,  however,  after  threatening  to  charter  a  schooner 
and  transport  his  goods  independent  of  the  steamship  line,  Holladay 
gave  in  and  permitted  his  vessels  to  load  and  discharge  at  the  wharf 

Mr.  Pauly  remained  in  the  merchandise  business  until  1875,  when  he 
sold  out  and  went  into  real  estate,  commission,  and  insurance  with  his 
son,  C.  W.  Pauly.  He  has  now  retired  from  active  business  and  de- 
\'otes  his  time  to  conducting  his  private  affairs. .  Mr.  Pauly  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  in  1873-74.  ^^  was  also  Tax  Collector 
for  nine  years,  from  1875  to  1884,  and  was  one  of  the  organizers  and 
first  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  During  the  time  that  he 
was  at  the  head  of  this  institution,  the  railroad  was  built  into  San  Diego, 
and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Aaron  Pauly' s  labors  did  much  to 
bring  about  that  important  event.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Baptist  Society  here,  selected  the  lots  and  aided  largely  in  building  the 
])resent  fine  church  edifice  on  the  corner  of  E  and  Ninth  Streets.  Mr. 
Pauly  owns  considerable  real  estate  in  different  parts  of  the  city.  In 
conjunction  with  D.  C.  Reed  he  built  the  fine  business  block  on  the 
corner  of  E  and  Sixth  Streets,  known  as  the  Reed-Pauly  Block;  and 
with  A.  G.  Gassen  he  will  soon  erect  a  magnificent  four-story  brick 
block  on  the  northeast  corner  of  E  and  Fourth  Streets,  which  will  cost, 
when  completed,  fully  $100,000.  He  has  lately  finished  a  handsome  and 
spacious  residence  on  the  corner  of  D  and  Eleventh  Streets.  It  is  the 
Queen  Anne  style  of  architecture,  and  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
tasteful  private  residences  in  the  city. 

In  addition  to  his  interests  in  San  Diego,  Mr.  Pauly  has  done 
much  to  further  and  develop  the  mines  of  the  county,  and  the  mining- 
region  of  Julian  is  probably  more  deeply  indebted  to  him,  than  to  any 
other  indi\-idual,  for  its  present  prosperous  outlook.  He  was  also  one 
of  the  projectors  and  president  of  the  company  that  built  the  wagon 
road  from  Yuma  to  .San  Diego.  This  road  was  of  great  benefit  to  San 
Diego,  and  a  great  deal  of  lui  iness  was  done  o\-er  it,  which  continued 


BIO  OR  A  PH/CA  L  SKIi  TC II  US.  1 25 

until  the  opening  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad.  Mr.  Pauly  was  one 
of  the  organizers  of  the  San  Diego  Benevolent  Association,  a  society 
which  is  still  in  existence,  and  has  for  many  years,  in  an  unostentatious 
way,  accomplished  much  charitable  work. 

Mr.  Pauly  was  married  in  1840  to  Miss  Elmira  Nye,  a  native  of 
Vermont.  The  result  of  this  union  was  four  children  living,  two  sons 
and  two  daughters.  Besides  he  had  one  daughter  by  his  first  wife,  to 
whom  he  was  married  in  1834,  but  she  died  in  a  little  more  than  a  year 
afterwards.  His  eldest  daughter  is  the  wife  of  General  Dustin,  of  Syca- 
more, Illinois,  who  served  all  through  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  His 
sons  are  living  in  Southern  California,  one  being  employed  in  the  First 
National  Bank  in  Los  Angeles  and  the  other  being  engaged  in  the  real 
estate  business  here.  One  daughter  is  married  and  living  in  Gridley. 
Butte  County. 

Mr.  Pauly  has  fully  realized  his  early  expectations  in  the  present 
wonderful  growth  and  prosperity  of  San  Diego.  He  is  in  excellent 
health,  and  bids  fair  to  have  many  days  of  usefulness  before  him. 


D.  CHOATE. 


It  was  a  happy  inspiration  which  led  the  fathers  of  the  State  of  Maine 
to  adopt  as  the  motto  of  the  young  commonwealth,  "  Dirigo  " — I  di- 
rect. Situated  on  the  northeastern  confines  of  the  Union,  her  territory 
reaches  well  towards  the  limits  of  a  monarchial  colony,  and  she  stands 
as  it  were  the  most  advanced  sentinel  of  the  host  of  Republican  States. 
This  position  in  the  national  sisterhood  has  had  a  marked  efiect  in  the 
formation  of  the  character  of  her  citizens,  and  they  have  inherited  with 
the  air  they  breathe  an  ardor,  a  courage,  and  a  strength  of  will  that  is 
strongly  marked,  and  is  noticeable  wherever  they  are  found.  In  e\ery 
enterprise  requiring  push  and  daring  they  are  among  the  first;  in  every 
imdertaking  where  brain  and  brawn  united  win  the  day,  the  hardy  men 
of  Maine  are  to  be  found.  When  gold  was  discovered  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  and  the  rush  was  made  for  the  new  El  Dorado,  the  sons  of  Maine 
were  in  the  van.  They  joined  in  the  great  caravans  that  toiled  and 
struggled  in  the  weary  march  across  the  plains:  they  enlisted  in  tiie 
army  of  gold  hunters  whose  march  over  the  isthnuis  was  marked  by  a  line 
of  fever -stricken  victims;  they  joined  the  fleet  of  argonauts  that  doubled 
Cape  Horn  and  passed  many  weary  months  upon  the  sea — all  seeking 
one  goal,  all  bound  for  one  ha\en.  Among  the  men  from  Maine  who 
joined  the  hosts  of  '49  was  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

D.  Choate  was  born  in  Kennebec  County,  Maine,  on  the  9th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1827.      His  ])arents  were  farmers,  antl  y(nmg  Choate  spent  the 


126 


CITY  AND    COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


early  years  of  his  life  on  the  farm,  a\-ailing  himself  of  such  educational 
advantag-es  as  were  to  be  found  in  the  district  school  until  1847,  when  he 
went  to  Lowell,  Mass. ,  to  attend  school.  He  remained  there  until  the  win- 
ter of  1848-49.  In  February  of  the  latter  year  he  joined  a  party  of  gold- 
seekers,  and  on  the  first  day  of  March  sailed  from  Boston  for  Chagres, 
on  the  bark  Thames.     They  had  an  uneventful  voyage  and  reached  the 


D.  CHOATE. 

isthmus  in  safety.  The  journey  overland  to  Panama  was  attended  with 
the  usual  discomforts  incident  to  the  trip  in  those  days,  but  the  party  were 
more  fortunate  than  many.  Here,  however,  they  were  detained  for  a 
month  waiting  for  a  vessel  in  which  to  obtain  passage  to  San  Francisco. 
Finally  they  embarked  on  board  an  English  brig,  the  Two  Friends. 
This  portion  of  their  journey  was  destined  to  be  the  most  tedious  of  any. 
The  vessel  was  small  and  overcrowded,  the  winds  were  light  or  adverse, 
and  they  were  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  days  on  the  voyage.      Dur- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES.  127 

ing  this  time  the  water  and  jircn-isions  got  \'ery  hnv,  and  they  were  on 
short  allowance  for  one  hundred  days  of  the  time.  Finally,  on  the  \2\\\ 
of  October,  or  over  seven  months  from  the  time  they  left  home,  th.y 
sailed  through  the  Golden  Gate  and  came  to  an  anchor  off  the  straggling 
settlement  of  Yerba  Buena.  The  passengers  of  the  Tivo  Friends  were 
not  long  in  getting  ashore,  and  after  a  brief  stop  started  for  the  mine:., 
Choate  making  Ophir  his  objective  point.  He  remained  there  througli 
the  winter  months  and  in  April  started  for  Yuba.  During  the  summer 
he  was  engaged  with  others  in  turning  the  river  from  its  bed,  but  the 
results  were  not  up  to  the  expectations  of  the  prospectors.  In  the  sj^ring 
of  1 85 1,  Choate  returned  to  Ophir  and  soon  became  engaged  in  mercan- 
tile business  at  this  point.  He  remained  at  Ophir,  carrying  on  a  gen- 
eral mercantile  business,  for  seventeen  years  until  the  mines  were  e.x- 
hausted.  He  then  came  down  to  San  Francisco,  and  in  1868  opened  a 
dry  goods  house  on  Kearny  Street,  between  California  and  Pine.  In 
July  of  the  following  year  he  wanted  a  brief  rest  from  business  cares  and 
a  change  of  air,  and  having  heard  of  the  sanitary  advantages  of  San 
Diego  he  made  up  his  mind  to  visit  it.  Steamers  were  then  running 
down  the  coast  but  once  a  month.  Mr.  Choate  had  not  been  many 
hours  in  San  Diego  before  he  had  decided  that  here  was  the  place  for 
him  to  locate.  He  felt  confident  that  upon  the  shores  of  this  magnifi- 
cent harbor  would  eventually  arise  a  city  that  would  equal  San  Fran- 
cisco. He  had  seen  that  city  when  it  was  but  a  hamlet,  and  he  saw  no 
reason  why  San  Diego  should  not  in  time  increase  in  population  and 
wealth  as  it  had  done.  So  sanguine  was  his  faith  that  he  did  not  e\en 
return  to  San  Francisco  to  close  up  his  business,  but  wrote  to  his  brother 
to  sell  out  and  follow  him.  In  August,  1869,  he  found  himself  ])erma- 
nently  located  in  San  Diego  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business.  He 
made  it  a  point  to  buy  up  land  by  the  acre,  from  one  to  three  miles  out, 
and  carry  all  he  could  of  it,  looking  to  the  future  for  his  profits.  He  had 
but  one  object  in  view — the  accumulation  of  a  fortune  which  he  had 
come  to  California  to  gain,  but  had  failed  to  acquire  in  the  mines.  His 
faith  in  the  future  of  his  adopted  city  ne\-er  forsook  him,  and  through 
all  the  fluctuations  that  have  marked  the  progress  of  .San  Diego  towards 
substantial  prosperity,  he  held  on  to  his  real  estate  and  added  to  it  as 
he  could.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  land  Mr.  Choate  bought  in  those 
early  days,  he  holds  now.  He  has  laid  out  ten  different  additions  to 
the  city,  each  containing  from  forty  to  eighty  acres,  and  he  now  has 
them  all  on  the  market.  The  lots  are  selling  at  from  $200  to  $500  each. 
The  increase  in  the  value  of  his  property  within  the  last  year  is  over 
$300,000. 

Mr.  Choate  is  the  promoter  of  the  famous  College  Hill  Loan  Asso- 
ciation, which  is  destined  to  be  one  of  the  most  successful  real  estate 
projects  ever  undertaken  in  -Southern  California.      The  tract  consists  of 


128  CITY  AND    COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

one  lliousand  six  huiulrecl  acres  situated  just  north  of  the  city  park.  It 
is  laid  out  in  blocks  and  lots  and  now  on  the  market.  Every  other 
block  in  the  tract  is  given  to  the  M.  E.  Church;  and  the  first  $200,- 
000  realized  from  the  sale  of  the  church  lands  is  to  be  used  for 
building  a  college.  The  balance  is  to  be  sold  from  time  to  time  and 
the  interest  alone  can  be  used.  This  college  (which  is  a  branch  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  University  of  Southern  California)  will  probably 
have  an  endowment  fund  of  at  least  $5,000,000,  greater  than  most  of 
the  great  colleges  of  the  Eastern  States.  The  other  half  of  the  land  is 
the  property  of  the  College  Hill  Land  Association,  which  consists  often 
members,  all  of  whom  reside  in  this  city.  The  stock  of  the  Association 
is  now  selling  at  $100  per  share;  its  original  cost  was  $5.00  a  share. 
There  are  one  thousand  five  hundred  shares.  The  Association  is  still 
buying  land.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  Methodist  people  to  begin  the 
erection  of  a  college  of  fine  arts  during  the  present  winter.  There  will 
be  a  steam  motor  line  running  through  the  tract  in  a  short  time,  and 
water  pipes  will  be  laid  to  every  block  by  the  same  time.  Mr.  Choate 
put  this  great  enterprise  in  operation  by  himself,  contributing  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres  of  land. 

Mr.  Choate  is  also  interested  in  the  Steiner,  Klauber,  Choate  & 
Castle  Addition,  containing  one  thousand  acres,  two  and  one-half  miles 
from  tlie  city  and  just  east  of  the  College  Hill  Tract.  This  tract  was 
placed  on  the  market  September  i,  1887,  and  the  sales  the  first  day 
reached  $87,000  in  this  city  and  $16,000  in  San  Francisco,  at  $100  per 
lot.  Then  they  were  raised  to  $125  for  a  week,  and  then  to  $150.  The 
total  sales  to  January  i,  1888,  exceeded  $250,000.  The  owners  of  the 
tract  have  entered  into  a  contract  with  Babcock  &  Story  for  a  motor 
line  through  it,  around  to  the  College  Hill  Tract  and  down  Fifth  Street, 
making  a  belt  line  from  D  Street. 

Mr.  Choate  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  various  efforts  that 
were  made  to  induce  the  building  of  railroads  to  San  Diego,  from  the 
first  Tom  Scott  boom  to  the  final  completion  of  the  California  Southern. 
In  1875  he  was  appointed  postmaster  and  retained  the  office  until  1882, 
when  he  resigned  to  attend  to  his  private  business.  He  has  now  re- 
tired from  active  business,  but  acts  as  an  adviser  in  the  development  of 
his  many  important  real  estate  enterprises.  Mr.  Choate  has  just  com- 
pleted a  palatial  residence  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Hawthorne 
Streets,  on  Florence  Heights.  He  also  contemplates  erecting  a  number 
of  substantial  business  buildings  on  several  principal  streets  during  the 
coming  spring.  Mr.  Choate  is  a  faithful  and  consistent  member  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  and  has  given  largely  to  many  public  charities.  He 
is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  princely  fortune,  yet  he  says  he  would 
gladly  forego  it  all,  rather  than  again  pass  through  the  anxieties,  re- 
verses, and  disap})ointments  he  has  experienced  during  his  residence 
in  San  Diego. 


I 


JUDGE  McNEALY. 


OxEofSan  Diego's  leading  citizens,  prominent  alike  as  a  lawyer 
and  a  jurist,  is  Judge  W.  T.  McNealy.  He  is  a  nati\'e  of  Georgia, 
having  been  born  in  Thomas  County,  in  that  State,  the  22d  of  January, 
1848.  When  he  was  about  two  years  old  his  parents  remfjved  to  Jack- 
son County,  Florida,  and  located  near  Mariana.  His  youth  was  spent 
on  his  father's  larm,  and  he  attended  the  neighboring  schools  until  he 
was  fourteen.  He  had  at  that  early  age  progressed  so  rapidly  in  his 
studies  that,  being  without  a  teacher  in  the  district  school,  young 
McNealy  was  called  upon  to  take  charge,  and  for  six  months  he  taught 
the  pupils  acceptably.  He  felt  desirous,  however,  of  continuing  his 
studies  and  he  went  to  the  State  military  school  at  Marietta,  Georgia, 
known  as  the  Military  Cadet  School.  He  remained  there  one  year, 
and  then  the  students  were  attached  as  State  troops  to  Joe  Johnston's 
army  during  the  last  year  of  the  war.  Young  McNealy  then  returned 
to  Florida  and  taught  school  for  a  year.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
began  to  read  law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  A.  H.  Bush,  the  Circuit  Judge. 
While  a  law  student  he  acted  as  Deputy  Clerk  of  Jackson  County.  On 
the  7th  of  January,  1S69,  after  having  studied  law  for  three  years, 
he  started,  by  the  way  of  Panama,  for  California,  and  arri\ed  in  San 
Francisco  the  22d  of  February.  He  first  came  to  Los  Angeles, 
and  after  remaining  there  a  few  days  started  for  San  Diego  by  stage, 
reaching  there  the  last  day  of  March,  in  1869.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  that  fall  was  nominated  and  elected  District 
Attorney  of  the  county  on  the  Democratic  ticket.  Two  years  later  he 
was  re-elected  without  opposition. 

In  1873  he  was  elected  Judge  for  the  Eighteenth  Judicial  District, 
then  comprising  San  Diego  and  San  Bernardino  Counties,  for  a  term 
of  six  years.  In  1879  he  was  elected  Superior  Judge  of  San  Diego 
County  for  a  term  of  five  years;  in  the  same  year  he  declined  the  nom- 
ination for  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  on  the  Working-men's  ticket. 
In  1884,  when  the  nominating  convention  was  about  to  meet,  Judge 
McNealy' s  friends  and  the  members  of  the  bar  insisted  on  his  being  a 
candidate  for  re-election.  His  health  was  such,  however,  that  he  hesi- 
tated a  long  time,  but  finally  gave  a  reluctant  consent,  and  was  again 
elected  Superior  Judge.  In  September,  1886,  his  health  became  so 
bad  that  it  was  physically  impossible  for  him  to  perform  the  duties  of 
his  ofifice,  i^nd   he  sent  his  resignation  to  the  Governor,  tt)  take  effect 

(1'2S1) 


i.^^o 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


on  the  first  of  the  following  October.  He  then  retired  from  active 
business  and  endeavored  to  avoid  all  professional  cares  of  every 
nature,  in  order  to  thoroughly  recover  his  health.  To  a  man  of  Judge 
McNealy's  active  disposition,  however,  this  was  well-nigh  impossible, 
and  he  had  to  keep  his  mind  employed.  The  result  was  that  before 
many  months  he  found  himsdf  engaged  in  the  active  practice  of  his 


JUDGE  McNEALY. 

profession.  The  requirements  of  a  general  practice  were  such  that  it 
was  not  possible  for  him  to  limit  his  labors  to  his  strength.  Finally, 
howe\'er,  a  few  months  since,  he  decided  to  give  up  all  his  general  law 
practice,  and  now  he  only  acts  as  counsel  in  a  few  special  cases  and 
may  be  said  to   have  practically  retired  from  the  profession. 

Judge  McNealy's  career  in  San  Diego  County  has  been,  in  many 
respects,  a  remarkable  one.  Coming  here  as  he  did,  an  entire  stranger, 
just  arrived  at  man's  estate,  his  ability  as  a  lawyer,  united  with  his  per- 


BIO  GRA  PHICAL  Skli  TCI  I  US. 


131 


sonal  popularity,  at  once  made  him  a  j)lace  in  the  community.  His  ad- 
ministration of  the  office  of  District  Attorney  during  his  first  term,  was 
such  as  to  win  for  him  the  encomium  of  the  best  people  in  both  parties. 
During  his  second  term  he  merely  emphasized  in  the  minds  of  the  pub- 
lic the  opinion  that  had  been  previously  formed  of  him.  Of  his  career 
upon  the  bench  during  a  continuous  period  of  thirteen  years  it  is  im- 
possible to  speak  in  too  high  terms.  He  performed  an  immense  amount 
of  labor  and  rendered  many  important  decisions,  some  of  which  invtjlved 
large  property  interests.  All  of  his  rulings  appear  to  have  been  made 
with  but  one  object  in  view, — the  strict  administration  of  justice, — and 
when,  at  length,  he  retired  from  the  bench  the  people  felt  that  they  had 
lost  a  champion,  and  the  bar  that  they  had  been  depri\'ed  of  the  services 
of  an  upright  and  impartial  judge. 

Judge  McNealy  was  married  in  1S72,  in  San  Diego,  to  Miss  Lina 
E.  Wadham.     They  have  five  children  living,  four  boys  and  one  girl. 


ROBERT  ALLISON. 


One  of  San  Diego's  representative  citizens  is  Robert  Allison.  He 
is  a  native  of  Ohio,  having  been  born  in  Washington  County,  near  Mari- 
etta, in  March,  1814.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and  Robert's  boyhood 
was  passed  with  his  parents,  living  on  the  old  farm  and  attending  the 
district  school,  which  was  held  in  a  log  building,  and  the  seats  were  rough 
slabs  on  which  the  pupils  sat  and  learned  their  tasks.  When  twenty-one 
years  old  he  started  out  into  the  world  on  his  own  account.  He  bought 
a  flat  boat  and  made  the  voyage  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  to 
New  Orleans,  carrying  country  produce.  His  first  venture  was  success- 
ful.and  he  continued  in  the  trade  for  eight  or  nine  years.  He  then  re- 
rnoved  to  Illinois,  and  went  to  steam  milling  first  at  Warsaw,  and  after- 
ward at  Nauvoo.  After  following  this  business  for  fi\-e  years  he  started 
for  Iowa,  where  he  bought  a  farm  on  the  Black  Hawk  Resenation.  He 
purchased  eight  hundred  acres  from  the  Government  and  cultivated  a 
good  portion  of  it.  In  1850  he  crossed  the  plains  with  an  ox  team  to  Cal- 
ifornia. On  the  way  they  ran  short  of  provisions,  but  managed  to  pull 
through  and  finally  arrived  at  Placerville  in  the  latter  part  of  September. 
After  a  brief  stay  he  went  down  to  Sacramento,  where  he  opened  a  hotel. 
which  he  carried  on  for  six  or  eight  months.  He  then  located  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Sutter  County,  which  he  cultivated,  rais- 
ing hay  principally.  After  farming  there  for  three  years  he  returned  to 
Iowa,  where  he  remained  a  little  more  than  a  year,  and  then  again 
crossed  the  plains  to  California,  bringing  with  him  some  six  hundred  head 
of  cattle.      He  located  near  \'acaville,  Solano  County,  engaging  in  rais- 


1^2 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


ing-  cattle.  Then,  in  1868,  his  health  being  poor,  he  came  to  San  Diego. 
At  first  he  did  not  intend  to  locate,  but  he  found  tliat  his  health  was  so 
greatly  benefited  by  the  change,  and  the  country  pleased  hini  so  much, 
that  he  decided  to  remain.  He  therefore  wound  up  his  business  in 
Solano  County  and  came  here  to  make  it  his  home.  He  bought  up  a 
large  number  of  cattle  and  went  into  ranching  and  butchering.      He 


ROBERT  .-ALLISON. 

purchased  three  thousand  acres  of  the  Cuyamaca  and  eight  thousand 
acres  of  ex-Mission  Grant,  the  latter  situated  about  four  miles  from  the 
city  of  San  Diego.  He  still  owns  these  lands,  and  is  one  of  the  largest 
cattle  raisers  in  the  county.  He  has  now  retired  from  active  business, 
and  devotes  his  time  to  the  management  of  his  private  affairs,  his  three 
sons  carrying  on  the  ranching  and  butchering  business.  They  now  have 
over  four  thousand  head  of  cattle  on  their  ranges. 

Mr.  Allison  has  never  held  any  public  office,  but  has  de\oted  his  at- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  133 

tention  strictly  to  the  conduct  of  his  business  interests.  He  has,  how- 
ever, been  active  in  all  public  movements  and  has  contributed  liberally 
to  all  enterprises  having  for  their  effect  the  advancement  of  the  city 
and  county.  He  is  one  of  the  directors  and  a  large  Stockholder  in  the 
San  Diego  and  Cuyamaca  Railroad,  now  in  course  of  construction.  He 
is  much  opposed  to  intemperance,  which  he  looks  upon  as  the  greatest 
curse  of  the  age,  and  is  an  earnest  and  consistent  advocate  of  prohibi- 
tion. .  Although  over  seventy  years  of  age  he  is  as  active  as  many  men 
ten  years  younger.  His  health  is  excellent  and  there  is  every  prospect 
that  he  will  be  spared  for  many  years  of  usefulness.  His  faith  in  the 
future  of  the  county  is  great.  He  believes  it  will  yet  become  one  of 
the  wealthiest  and  most  progressive  of  the  many  great  counties  of  the 
State.  Mr.  Allison  was  married  in  Ohio  in  1838,  to  Miss  Tempa  Water- 
man. He  has  had  eleven  children,  of  which  four  are  now  living,  three 
sons  and  a  daughter,  all  of  whom  reside  in  this  city. 


PHILIP   ^lORSE. 


Philip  Morse  was  born  in  Fayette,  Maine,  May  23,  1845.  His  boy- 
hood days  were  passed  in  the  village,  where,  he  attended  the  district 
school.  Later  on  he  A\as  a  pupil  in  the  Lewiston  Falls  Academy,  where 
he  prepared  to  enter  Bowdoin  College  in  the  class  of  1865.  Failing 
health,  however,  compelled  him  to  give  up  all  thought  of  entering  col- 
lege, and  he  decided  to  come  to  California.  Arriving  in  San  Francisco 
in  September  of  that  year  he  secured  a  position  as  salesman  in  the 
lumber  yard  of  Glidden  &  Colman,  pier  20,  Steuart  Street,  where  he 
remained  until  March,  1869,  whei>  he  accepted  a  position  with  McDonald 
&  Co.,  to  come  to  San  Diego  to  take  charge  of  their  lumber  business 
here.  He  arrived  March  9,  and  has  been  identified  with  the  interests 
of  the  city  ever  since.  He  was  absent  from  San  Diego  from  1879  to 
1883,  in  Arizona,  where  he  had  a  mill  and  manufactured  lumber  for  the 
mines.  He  was  associated  with  Mr.  Jacob  Gruendike  in  this  venture. 
Upon  his  return  to  San  Diego  in  1883,  he  went  into  business  with  his 
father-in-law,  G.  \V.  B.  McDonald,  under  the  firm  name  of  McDonakl  iS: 
Morse.  The  firm  continued  in  existence  for  one  year,  and  then,  in  con- 
junction with  several  San  Francisco  capitalists,  Mr.  Morse  organized  the 
San  Diego  Lumber  Company,  of  which  he  was  elected  general  manager. 
The  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  fixed  at  $75,000.  The  sales  for 
the  past  year  amounted  to  over  $750,000.  He  is  also  a  stockholder  in, 
and  was  one  of  the  organizers  and  first  superintendents  of.  the  West 
Coast  Redwood  Company  of  San  Francisco.  He  is  President  of  the 
San  Diego  Manufacturing  Comj^any,  which  is  engaged  in  the  manufact- 
ure of  doors,  sash,  blinds,  etc. 


134 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


Although  Mr.  Morse  is  not  a  politician  in  the  ordinary  acceptance  of 
the  term,  he  has  always  taken  a  deep  interest  in  municipal  affairs,  and 
for  nearly  three  years  he  held  the  office  of  City  Treasurer.  He  has  been 
twice  elected  a  member  of  the  City  Board  of  Education,  and  is  now  Pres- 
ident of  that  body.  He  is  Vice-President  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  one 
of  the  leading-  members  of  the  San  Diego  Natural  History  Society. 


PHILIP  MORSE. 

In  giving  this  brief  sketch  of  Philip  Morse,  really  but  one  side  of  his 
character  has  been  exposed  to  view.  We  have  seen  how  he  has  risen, 
through  the  exercise  of  exceptionally  good  business  qualities,  from  a 
clerkship  to  a  position  of  affluence  and  recognized  prominence  in  the 
community.  We  have  seen  hhii  successful  in  his  business  ventures,  and 
honored  and  trusted  by  his  fellow-citizens.  But  there  is  another  phase 
of  his  character,  which  is  seldom  found  combined  with  business  acumen 
or  financial  ability.      In  the  exercise  of  a  wise  economy  nature  but  rarely 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCIIIiS.  i.VS 

endows  the  same  mind  with  more  than  one  of  what  may  be  called  lu-r 
cardinal  gifts.  Occasionally,  howe\er,  when  in  a  lavish  mood,  she  de- 
parts from  this  general  nilc.  The  character  of  Philip  Morse  is  an  in- 
stance of  this.  Added  to  his  ability  as  a  business  man  he  has  a  fine 
literary  taste,  and  a  talent  for  poetry,  which  has  borne  fruit  in  the  produc- 
tion of  some  stanzas  which  will  li\e  in  the  annals  of  American  verse. 
As  a  wTiter  of  descriptive  prose,  also,  he  has  been  quite  successful.  His 
sense  of  observation  is  keen  and  he  writes  of  what  he  sees,  in  a  bright, 
pleasant  style  that  is  both  agreeable  and  instructi\e  to  the  reader.  One 
of  the  best  of  Mr.  Morse's  poetical  efforts  is  entitled  "  Milking  Time. " 
It  was  first  ])ublished  in  Scribner  s  for  August,  i<S78,  and  besides  being 
W'idely  copied  by  the  newspaper  press  has  been  included  in  a  publica- 
tion entitled,  "  Best  Things  by  the  Best  Authors,"  and  also  in  a  collec- 
tion known  as  "Perfect  Jewels,"  illustrated.  It  is  indeed  a  poetical 
jewel,  and  as  the  work  of  one  of  San  Diego's  best-known  citizens,  it  is 
not  inappropriate  to  find  a  place  for  it  in  this  volume: — 

MILKING  TIME. 

"  I  tell  you,  Kate,  that  Lovejoy  cow 
Is  worth  her  weight  in  gold; 
She  gives  a  good  eight  quarts  o'  milk, 
And  isn't  yet  five  year  old. 

"  I  see  young  White  a-comin'  now; 
lie  wants  her,  I  know  that. 
Be  careful,  girl,  you're  spillin'  it  ! 
An'  save  some  for  the  cat. 

" Good-evenin',  Richard,  step  right  in." 
"  I  guess  I  couldn't,  sir, 
I've  just  come  down"' — "  I  know  it,  Dick, 
You've  took  a  shine  to  her. 

"  She's  kind  an'  gentle  as  a  lamb, 
Jest  where  I  go  she  follers; 
And  though  it's  cheap  I'll  let  her  go. 
She's  your'n  for  thirty  dollars. 

"  You'll  know  her  clear  across  the  farm, 
By  them  two  milk-white  stars; 
You  needn't  drive  her  home  at  night. 
But  jest  le'  down  the  bars. 

"  Then  when  you've  owned  her,  say  a  month, 
And  learnt  her,  as  it  were, 
I'll  bet — why,  what's  the  matter,  Hick  ?  " 
"  'Tain't  her  I  want — it's  her  !" 

"  What  ?  not  the  girl  I     Well,  I'll  be  blessed  ! 
There,  Kate,  don't  drop  that  pan. 
You've  took  me  mightily  aback. 
But  then  a  man's  a  man. 

12 


136  CirV  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

"  She's  your'n,  my  boy,  but  one  word  more: 
Kate's  gentle  as  a  dove. 
She'll  foller  you  the  whole  world  round, 
For  nothing  else  but  love. 

"  But  never  try  to  drive  the  lass; 
Her  nature's  like  her  ma"s. 
I'  ve  alius  found  it  worked  the  best 
To  jest  le'  down  the  bars." 

Mr.  Morse  was  married  May  23,  1870,  to  Miss  Sarah  McDonald, 
daughter  of  G.  W.  B.  McDonald,  one  of  San  Diego's  most  prominent 
citizens,  and  one  of  the  first  Supervisors.  The  fruit  of  this  union  has 
been  three  children,  of  which  one,  a  son,  is  living.  The  residence  of 
Mr.  Morse,  which  is  situated  at  the  corner  of  Twelfth  and  E  Streets,  is 
one  of  the  finest  in  the  city.  The  finish  of  the  interior  is  especially  at- 
tractive, being  done  in  the  choicest  of  curly  redwood. 


R.  G.   CLARK. 


R.  G.  Clark,  one  of  the  old  residents  of  San  Diego  County,  was 
born  in  Greenville,  Mercer  County,  Pennsylvania,  May  13,  1832.  He 
lived  upon  a  farm  and  attended  the  district  schools  until  he  was  eight- 
een years  of  age.  He  was  then  apprenticed  to  learn  the  trade  of  a 
moulder.  He  went  to  work  in  a  foundry  in  Mercer  County,  where  he 
remained  two  years.  He  then  went  to  Springfield,  Ohio,  and  worked  in 
Leffell's  foundry  until  he  completed  his  apprenticeship.  During  this 
time  he  had  also  mastered  the  mystery  of  the  steam  engine,  and  was  not 
only  able  to  run  one  but  understood  its  construction.  This  was  to  serve 
a  good  purpose  in  the  future.  From  Springfield  he  went  to  Cincinnati 
and  St.  Louis,  where  he  worked  at  his  trade  until  1854,  when  he  started 
across  the  plains  for  California,  joining  a  man  who  was  bringing  stock 
and  wagons.  They  arrived  at  Salt  Lake  City  in  the  fall  of  1854,  and  re- 
mamed  there  through  the  winter.  In  the  spring  they  started  again 
towards  the  Pacific  slope  with  the  first  train.  After  leaving  Salt  Lake 
the  train  was  attacked  by  Indians  several  times,  but  they  had  a  strong 
company  and  their  assailants  were  repulsed.  They  arrived  at  Sacra- 
mento June  5,  1855.  Then  Mr.  Clark  went  to  Amador  County.  It 
was  now  that  the  knowledge  of  the  steam  engine  he  had  acquired  while 
working  at  his  trade  in  Ohio  came  into  play.  A  man  was  wanted  to 
run  the  engine  in  the  Oneida  Quartz  Mill.  He  applied  for  the  position 
and  obtained  it.  Afterwards  he  was  foreman,  during  1855  and  1856,  of 
Tibbitt's  foundry  at  Sutter  Creek.  Subsequently  he  engaged  in  mining 
on  the  Mokelumne  River  with  varied  success.  He  was  for  a  time 
General  Superintendent  of  a  large  foundry  at  Silver  City,  Idaho,  re- 


BIO  GRAPHIC  A  L  SKE  TCIIES. 


137 


ceiving,  with   one  exception,  the  lii^liest  salary  i)ai(l   to  any  superin- 
tendent in  the  Territories. 

When  the  Frazier  River  excitement  broke  out  in  1858,  Clark 
caught  the  fever  and  made  the  pilgrimage  to  British  Columbia,  return- 
ing, with  thousands  of  others,  poorer  in  pocket,  but  with  an  addition  to 
his  store  of  experience.     For  a  short  time  after  this  he  w.is  foreman  of 


R.  G.  CLARK. 

Worcester's  foundry  at  Angel  Camp,  Calaveras  County.  Then  in  1S59 
he  went  East  and  visited  his  old  home  in  Pennsylvania,  returning  to 
California  the  following  year.  J.  S.  Harbison  had  previous  to  this  time 
imported  several  colonies  of  bees  from  the  East,  and  Mr.  Clark  and  his 
brother  bought  some  of  him  and  established  se\eral  apiaries  in  lone 
Valley,  Amador  County.  In  this  \enture  the  brothers  were  very  suc- 
cessful. One  year  afterward  he  went  to  Ne\ada  and  bought  a  farm 
called  "  Litde  Meadows,"  now  known  as  Clark's  Station,  on  the  Truckee 


1 3S  CITY  A Xn  CO  I WT V  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

River.  He  prospered  in  farming  on  the  Truckee  and  remained  there 
for  seven  years,  but  finally,  on  account  of  malaria,  he  was  obliged  to  sell 
out  and  seek  a  change  of  climate.  He  decided  to  come  to  San  Diego 
and  arrived  here  in  1868.  A  few  months  after  this  he  went  back  to 
Sacramento,  and  in  company  with  his  old  bee  friend,  J.  S.  Harbison, 
engaged  in  silk  culture.  Their  experiment,  however,  was  not  a  success 
owing  to  a  disease  breaking  out  among  the  silk  worms,  and  they  gax-e 
uj)  the  business.  Then  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Harbison  he  started 
for  San  Diego,  bringing  with  them  one  hundred  and  ten  hives- of  honey 
bees,  arriving  here  November  28,  1869.  From  that  time  up  to  last 
spring  Mr.  Clark  continued  to  be  largely  interested  in  bee  culture,  and 
did  much  to  create  the  reputation  which  San  Diego  honey  enjoys  in  the 
markets  of  the  world. 

In  1S76  Mr.  Clark  began  the  culture  of  fruit  and  forest  trees,  and 
the  making  oi  raisins  in  the  Cajon  Valley.  He  owned  at  first  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  acres,  all  under  cultivation.  Eighty  acres  were  in  trees 
and  vines,  and  the  balance  in  grain.  He  was  the  first  man  in  San  Diego 
to  practically  demonstrate  the  productiveness  of  the  soil  of  El  Cajon 
for  raisin  culture.  He  introduced  a  system  of  sub-irrigation  in  his  vine- 
3'ard,  running  a  continuous  concrete  cement  pipe,  with  outlets  at  con- 
venient distances,  under  ten  acres.  His  was  the  only  vineyard  in  the 
valley  that  was  irrigated,  and  although  it  was  not  necessary  the  experi- 
ment was  one  that  proved  not  unprofitable.  Mr.  Clark  has  always 
shipped  the  largest  portion  of  his  raisins  to  the  Eastern  markets.  For 
the  last  two  years  the  house  of  Wm.  T.  Coleman  &  Co.  has  han- 
dled his  crop.  His  raisins  are  pronounced  by  the  best  judges  to  be 
equal  to  any  imported.  When  he  first  came  to  San  Diego  Mr.  Clark 
was  laughed  at  for  bringing  bees  here,  but  before  long  he  demonstrated 
the  natural  advantages  of  the  county  for  bee  culture.  He  was  met  with 
the  same  kind  of  encouragement  when  he  first  began  growing  grapes 
m  the  Cajon.  People  claimed  that  the  soil  was  not  suited  for  the 
•purpose.  Mr.  Clark  sold  out  all  his  interests  in  the  Cajon  in  Decem- 
ber, 1886,  and  came  into  San  Diego.  On  the  13th  of  April  follow- 
ing, in  company  with  his  family,  he  started  for  an  Eastern  trip,  and 
traveled  all  through  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States  but  found  no  place 
in  which  he  could  be  content  to  live  outside  of  San  Diego  County.  He 
owns  considerable  real  estate  in  the  city,  and  will,  in  a  short  time, 
build  a  handsome  residence  on  the  corner  of  A  and  Thirteenth 
Streets.  In  the  first  years  of  his  residence  in  San  Diego  County  Mr. 
Clark  labored  very  hard  and  surmounted  obstacles  under  which  men  of 
less  determination  would  have  succumbed.  When,  however,  his  or- 
chards and  his  vineyards  were  well  under  way,  and  he  began  to  see 
some  of  his  most  cherished  ideas  realized,  he  felt  amply  repaid  for  all 
his  trials  and  temporary  disappointments.      E\'er  since  his  first  crop  of 


I 


BIO  GRAP IIICA  A  SKR  TCI  I  US.  1 39 

raisins  they  have  paid  him  on  an  a\erage  of  $100  per  acre  net.  Mr. 
Clark  also  planted  the  first  Anstralian  blue  gum  forest  in  the  countv. 
He  is  constantly  in  the  receipt  of  letters  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
asking  informatic^n  in  reference  to  vine  and  bee  culture. 

Mr.  Clark  was  married  in  1871  to  Miss  Anna  L.  Blake.  They 
have  one  child,  a  boy  eleven  years  old,  Edgar  Franklin,  living.  One 
child  died. 


DANIEL  CLEVELAND. 


In  this  country,  where  hereditary  titles  are  unknown,  and  the  onlv 
recognized  aristocracy  is  that  of  ability  or  wealth,  we  are  apt  to  value 
too  lightly  the  pride  of  ancestry.  This  is  accounted  for  when  we  bear 
in  mind  the  fact  that  so  lew  American  families  can  climb  the  genealogi- 
cal tree  without  meeting  with  a  broken  limb,  or  a  branch  that  shows 
unmistakable  signs  of  decay;  in  fact,  with  many  families,  the  genealogi- 
cal tree  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  shrub  of  \'ery  commonplace 
proportions.  It  will  be  generally  admitted  that  there  are  many  individ- 
uals among  us  who  would  be  glad  to  be  able  to  trace  their  descent 
through  an  unblemished  channel  for  a  dozen  or  more  generations. 
There  are  a  few  American  families,  however,  that  have  been  so  favored 
by  fortune,  for  generation  after  generation,  that  they  have  never  known 
any  marked  reverses,  and  their  increase  in  wealth  has  been  of  such  a 
healthy  growth  as  to  have  caused  neither  demoralization  nor  that  much- 
to-be-deplored  condition  of  mmd  christened  "  purse  pride,"  and  so  they 
have  continued  from  father  to  son,  for  a  century  or  more,  occupying 
prominent  yet  not  exalted  positions  in  the  walks  of  life,  and  respected 
and  beloved  by  their  acquaintances  and  neighbors.  If  we  have  in  this 
country  any  aristocratic  class,  these  families  can  properly  claim  to  be 
members  of  it.  And  It  is  not  such  an  aristocracy  the  Republic  would 
ever  have  cause  to  fear;  it  would  rather  find  there  its  firmest  and  most 
valued  supporters.  To  such  a  family  belongs  the  subject  of  this  brief 
sketch. 

Daniel  Cleveland  was  born  in  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  March  21. 
1838.  His  father,  Stephen  Cleveland,  practiced  law  for  many  years  in 
New  York  City  and  Poughkeepsie.  He  was  eminent  in  his  profession, 
and  had  as  his  clients  some  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  the 
nation,  including  the  Governor  of  the  State,  a  \'ice- President  of  the 
nation,  and  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
Daniel  Cleveland  came  from  Revolutionary  stock,  his  grandfiither  on 
both  the  paternal  and  maternal  sides  having  fought  in  the  war  for 
Independence.  His  father  was  an  officer  in  the  last  war  with  England. 
While  attending  college  at   Burlington,   Wrmont,   he  marched  at  the 


140 


CITY  AXD  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


head  of  a  company  of  his  college  students,  as  their  captain,  to  join  the 
American  army,  which  met  and  defeated  the  British  troops  at  the  battle 
of  Plattsburg,  New  York.  Besides  his  eminence  as  a  lawyer,  he  was 
prominent  in  politics  in  the  Empire  State,  being  always  an  earnest  and 
consistent  Whig.  As  a  political  speaker  he  was  very  able  and  convinc- 
ing. For  some  years  he  owned  the  Poughkeepsie  Gazette.  He  died 
in  that  city  January  3,  1847. 


X^ 


DANIEL  CLEVELAND. 

Until  he  was  twelve  years  of  age  Daniel  Cleveland  resided  in 
Poughkeepsie,  where  he  attended  school.  He  then  went  to  Biloxi,  Mis- 
sissippi, where  he  remained  for  five  years  attending  school.  At  seven- 
teen he  removed  to  New  Orleans,  where  for  two  years  he  was  the  head 
book-keeper  in  a  commercial  establishment.  He  then,  in  April,  1857, 
returned  to  Poughkeepsie,  where  he  entered  the  office  of  Tallman  & 
Paine  and  began  the  study  of  the  law.      In  April,  1859,  li^  was  admitted 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  141 

to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  after  an  unusually  severe  examina- 
tion, lasting  two  days,  and  the  following  month  went  to  San  Antonio, 
Texas,  and  entered  into  a  law  partnership  with  his  brother,  William  H. 
Cleveland,  who  was  already  established  there. 

In  August,  1865,  he  was  commissioned  Mayor  f>f  San  Antonio,  on 
the  petition  of  the  leading  business  men  of  that  city.  He  held  the  office 
about  one  year.  He  was  the  first  officer  in  the  State  to  admit  the  testi- 
mony of  a  negro  against  a  white  man.  He  had  been  a  warm  friend  of 
the  Union  throughout  the  war,  and  soon  after  its  close  he  took  editorial 
charge  of  the  San  Antonio  Express,  the  first  Republican  newspaper  es- 
tablished in  Texas,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders.  It  is  now 
one  of  the  most  prominent  journals  in  the  State.  From  the  editorial 
chair  and  upon  the  stump  he  was  earnest  in  the  advocacy  of  Republican 
principles,  which  in  Texas,  in  those  days,  was  dangerous.  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's frank  utterances  and  his  known  stability  of  purpose  did  much  to 
advance  the  Republican  cause.  He  assumed  the  office  of  mayor,  with 
a  city  badly  demoralized,  and  deeply  in  debt.  He  surrendered  the  of- 
fice with  the  city  out  of  debt,  and  a  considerable  sum  of  money  in  the 
treasury.  In  October,  1866,  finding  his  health  failing  from  his  arduous 
labors,  he  started  for  New  York,  where  he  remained  a  year.  Then  he 
left  for  San  Francisco.  He  resided  in  the  latter  city  for  nearly  two 
years,  practicing  his  profession.  Jn  May,  1S69,  he  came  to  San  Diego 
and  again  entered  into  a  law  partnership  with  his  bi other,  William  H. 
Cleveland,  who,  during  the  Civil  War,  had  come  here  and  engaged  in 
practice.  He  was  a  prominent  citizen  of  San  Diego,  an  able  lawyer,  a 
bank  director  and  interested  m  the  city's  progress.  He  died  in  New 
Hampshire  in  1873. 

During  his  residence  here  Daniel  Cleveland  has  invested  largely  in 
real  estate  and  now  owns  the  Cleveland  Addition,  a  considerable  tract 
of  water  front  property,  a  large  tract  on  the  mesa,  and  property  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  city.  He  has  just  begun  the  erection  of  a  brick 
building  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  E  Streets,  covering  one  hundred 
feet  square,  seven  stories  in  height,  and  with  a  basement,  pro\-ided  with 
all  the  modern  improvements,  including  elevators  and  incandescent 
electric  lights  at  an  estimated  cost  of  about  $150,000.  While  engaged 
in  active  practice,  Mr.  Cleveland  was  attorney  for  the  Texas  and  Pacific 
Railway  Company  for  five  or  six  years,  until  it  transferred  its  franchises 
to  the  Southern  Pacific,  and  was  also  attorney  for  the  Bank  of  San  Diego 
while  it  existed.  He  has  been  identified  with  every  public  movement, 
and  is  always  looked  upon  as  one  of  San  Diego's  most  public-spirited 
citizens.  He  is  an  earnest  and  consistent  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  has  been  Senior  Warden  of  St.  Paul's  Church  almost  con- 
tinuously since  1869.  He  also  officiated  as  lay  reader  in  the  church  from 
1S70  until  quite  recently,  often  for  many  months  at  a   time  when  there 


142  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

was  no  rector.  He  was  one  of  the  founders,  and  is  one  of  the  Directors 
and  Vice-President  of  the  San  Diego  Society  of  Natural  History.  He  is 
an  enthusiastic  botanist  and  was  the  first  resident  of  San  Diego  to  en- 
gage in  field  botany.  One  genus  and  many  species  of  plants  ha\'e  re- 
ceived his  name  in  recognition  of  his  services  as  a  collector  and  dis- 
coverer. 

Moses  Cleveland,  the  founder  of  the  family,  came  from  England, 
and  settled  at  Canterbury,  Connecticut,  in  1635.  Among  his  descend- 
ants are  the  President  of  the  United  States;  a  Governor  of  Connecticut; 
the  founder  of  the  city  of  Cleveland,  Ohio;  the  most  distinguished 
mineralogist  of  America;  Father  Cleveland,  the  famous  Boston  mis- 
sionary; some  other  eminent  citizens,  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  Huntingtons  —  Daniel  Cleveland's  paternal  grandmother's  family 
— were  among  the  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Cleve- 
land does  not  know  of  any  intermarriage  in  his  family  with  any  person 
of  foreign  birth  since  1640. 


GEORGE  \V.   HAZZARD. 


One  of  San  Diego's  most  enterprising  and  reliable  business  men  is 
George  W.  Hazzard.  Mr.  Hazzard  is  a  native  of  Indiana,  ha\'ing  been 
born  in  Cambridge  City,  Wayne  County,  in  that  State,  in  February, 
1845.  His  father  died  when  he  was  an  infant  and  George  lived  in 
Cambridge  with  his  mother,  attending  the  district  school,  until  he  was 
fourteen,  when  he  removed  to  Delaware  County.  One  year  afterward 
his  mother  died,  and  at  the  age  of  fifteen  he  found  himself  alone  in  the 
world.  He  was  then  obliged  to  give  up  school  and  accepted  a  clerk- 
ship in  a  store  in  Muncie.  Here  he  continued  vmtil  he  was  twenty-two. 
Then,  after  a  brief  stay  in  Michigan,  he  started  for  California,  arriving  in 
San  Francisco  in  November,  1868.  After  a  short  sojourn  there  he  vis- 
ited several  places  in  Northern  California,  and  finally,  in  December  of 
that  year,  came  to  San  Diego.  He  had  heard  good  reports  of  .San 
Diego  as  a  place  with  a  future  before  it,  and  this,  together  with  the  fact 
that  his  physician  had  advLsed  him  to  seek  a  mild  climate,  had  deter- 
mined him  to  come  here.  The  first  thing  he  did  was  to  take  up  a  claim 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Otay  Valley.  After  locating 
his  claim  and  filing  his  papers,  he  found  he  was  unable  to  improve  it  and 
therefore  went  to  work  for  a  gentleman  in  Paradise  Valley.  He  worked 
there  for  four  months,  and  during  that  time  an  offer  being  made  him  for 
his  Government  claim  he  sold  it.  With  the  proceeds  he  bought  a  piece 
of  land  in  Paradise  Valley  containing  ten  acres,  but  by  that  time  he 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  farming  was  not  his  forte  and  he  sold  it, 
taking  the  proceeds  and  embarking  in  business  in  San  Diego.    In  Ju::e. 


BIOCRAPim  AL    SKIi '/'(  IfF.S. 


143 


1869,  Mr.  Hazzard  opened  the  first  grocery  store  in  the  young  city  at 
the  corner  of  Fifth  and  I  Streets.  San  Diego  then  had  a  populati(jn  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  He  succeeded  splendidly  in  hi.s  busi- 
ness enterprise,  and  as  the  place  began  to  grow  his  business  continued 
to  increase.  In  1871  National  City  began  to  come  into  jjrominence; 
and  as  it  was  understood  that  Tom  Scott  was  to  make   that  place  the 


GEORGE  W.   HAZZARD, 

terminus  of  his  o\erland  railroad,  he  decided  to  remove  there,  being 
partly  induced  to  make  the  change  by  a  land  consideration  offered  him 
by  the  Kimball  Brothers.  He  remained  in  National  City  for  three 
years.  During  this  time  San  Diego  was  growing  rapidly,  and  Mr. 
Hazzard,  concluding  that  he  might  have  made  a  mistake,  returned  here. 
He  at  once  began  the  erection  of  a  brick  store,  one  of  the  first  brick 
buildings  in  San  Diego,  at  the  corner  of  Si.xth  and  H  Streets,  which 
Cost  him  $14,000,  and  at  that  time  was  considered  a  great  enterprise. 


144  CITY  AND    COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

He  continued  to  carrv  on  a  general  merchandise  business  at  this  loca- 
tion until  1882,  when  he  sold  out  to  the  firm  of  Francisco,  Silliman  & 
Co.  During-  his  fourteen  years'  business  experience  Mr.  Hazzard  had 
accumulated  considerable  ranch  and  city  property,  which  he  retained. 
During  the  last  four  or  five  years  of  his  business  career  he  had  large 
dealings  with  the  interior  of  the  county  and  with  Lower  California.  At 
times  things  looked  rather  blue,  but  his  faith  in  San  Diego's  future  had 
been  unbounded  from  the  start  and  he  never  lost  heart. 

When  Mr.  Hazzard  opened  an  office  and  began  handling  his  own 
property  he  naturally  drifted  into  the  business  of  handling  property  for 
other  people,  and  he  was  soon  engaged  in  a  large  real  estate  business. 
He  had,  through  his  large  acquaintance,  formed  while  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business,  established  a  reputation  for  good  judgment  and  re- 
liability, and  as  a  consequence  found  his  advice  sought  by  many  people. 
Of  late  years  most  of  the  heavy  real  estate  transactions  in  which  he  has 
been  engaged  have  been  on  account  of  persons  in  the  East.  For  one 
party  in  Cincinnati  he  has  sold  over  $200,000  worth  of  real  property, 
they  leaving  everything  to  his  judgment. 

While  conducting  business  as  a  merchant  Mr.  Hazzard  became  in- 
terested in  the  minmg  industry  of  the  county,  and  has  aided  largely  in 
developing  that  portion  of  San  Diego's  wealth.  In  1882  he  bought  the 
Hubbard  mine,  situated  in  the  Banner  District.  He  afterwards  sold  a 
one-half  interest  out  and  still  retains  the  residue.  He  has  great  confi- 
dence in  the  county's  mineral  resources  and  predicts  a  bright  future  for 
them.  Mr  Hazzard  has  never  held  a  political  office,  and  has  no  taste 
for  politics.  He  has  been  prominent  as  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  since  its  organization,  and  has  served  two  terms  as  President 
of  that  body.  He  was  one  of  the  original  incorporators  of  the  San 
Diego  Water  Company  and  was  for  a  number  of  years  a  Director.  He 
was  also  one  of  the  incorporators  and  a  Director  in  the  Gas  Company  for 
a  number  of  years,  until  1883.  He  is  interested  in  the  Artificial  Stone 
Company,  and  the  Marine  Railway,  and  was  one  of  the  incorporators  and 
is  the  largest  individual  stockholder  in  the  Masonic  Building  Association. 

In  1886  Mr.  Hazzard  built  a  handsome  residence,  in  that  charming 
section  of  the  city,  known  as  Florence  Heights,  at  a  cost  of  $20,000, 
w-here  he  now  resides  with  his  family.  San  Diego  has  no  more  ardent 
friend  than  Mr.  Hazzard.  He  has  always  been  ready  to  devote  his 
time  and  means  to  every  project  tending  towards  the  city's  permanent 
advancement,  and  his  reputation  as  a  public-spirited,  progressive  citizen 
is  proverbial. 


WILLIAM  JORRES. 


Prominent  among  the  older  residents  of  San  Diego  is  William 
Jorres.  Mr.  Jorres  is  a  nati\'e  of  Hanover,  Germany,  where  he  was 
born  on  the  24th  of  August,  1824.  After  attending  school  he  learned 
the  carpenter's  trade  and  followed  it  in  the  city  of  Hamburg  until  1846, 
when  he  started  for  Monte  Video.  There  he  worked  at  his  trade  for 
about  six  months,  when  he  went  to  Buenos  Ayres,  where  he  remained 
three  years.  While  he  was  at  Monte  Video  the  port  was  blockaded  by 
the  combined  French  and  EngHsh  fleets  for  several  months.  In  the 
latter  end  of  1849  he  left  Buenos  Ayres  on  a  ship  bound  round  the 
Horn  for  San  Francisco,  where  he  arrived  May  4,  1850.  The  first 
week  after  his  arrival  he  went  to  the  mines  at  Spanish  Dry  Diggings, 
on  the  Middle  Fork  of  the  American  River.  Then  he  went  to  Bear 
Creek  and  prospected  that  section  pretty  thoroughly  for  a  year. 

After  the  second  fire  in  1851  he  went  down  to  San  Francisco, 
worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade  for  a  while,  and  then  started  in  for  him- 
self as  a  contractor,  a  business  he  followed  with  excellent  success  until 
1869,  when  he  came  to  San  Diego. 

During  his  residence  in  San  Francisco  Mr.  Jorres  in  his  business 
as  a  contractor  superintended  the  erection  of  a  large  number  of  fine 
buildings.  He  put  up  four  brick  houses  on  Washington  Street  between 
Kearny  and  Montgomery  in  1852-53;  he  built  the  large  brick  building 
on  the  southwest  corner  of  California  and  Front  in  1S55.  which  is  still 
standing;  also  the  orthodox  Jewish  synagogue  on  Mason  Street  between 
Post  and  Geary.  Most  of  his  buildings,  which  were  scattered  about  in 
different  parts  of  the  city,  were  substantial  structures  antl  are  still 
standing. 

After  his  arrival  in  San  Diego  Mr.  Jorres  formed  a  partnership  with 
S.  S.  Culverwell  and  built  the  Culverwell  &.  Jorres  Wharf,  situated  at 
the  foot  of  F  Street.  This  was  the  first  wharf  started  in  New  San  Diego. 
It  was  not  completed  so  soon  as  the  Horton  Wharl',  as  it  was  twenty 
feet  wider  and  required  more  time  to  build  it.  It  was  made  wide  enough 
for  carriages  to  be  driven  out  to  meet  passengers  from  the  steamers, 
who  were  landed  at  the  end  of  the  wharf  The  cost  of  the  wharf  was 
$28,700.  For  the  first  year  they  ran  it  themselves  and  then  leased  it 
and  Mr.  Jorres  again  went  into  business  as  a  contractor.  This  was  in 
1 87 1,  and  the  first  contract  he  took  was  for  the  building  of  the  present 
Court  House  on  D  Street.     In  1S73,  after  he  had  completed  the  Court 

(145) 


146 


CITY  AND    COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


House,  he  took  the  contract  for  putting-  up  tlie  building  for  the  Com- 
mercial Bank  of  San  Diego,  now  occupied  by  the  Consolidated  National 
Bank,  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  G  Streets.  He  next  put  up  the  Cen- 
tral Market  on  Fifth  Street  between  F  and  G.  It  was  200x60  feet  and 
was  fitted  up  with  stalls,  etc. ,  for  a  market.  After  being  used  for  this  pur- 
pose a  year  it  was  leased  by  Charles  S.  Hamilton  &  Co.,  and  has  since 


X 


m£ 


^m 


WILLIAM  JORRES. 

been  occupied  by  them  as  a  general  merchandise  store.  He  continued 
his  business  as  a  contractor  here  until  1877,  when  he  went  to  Los  Angeles, 
where  he  built  the  First  National  Bank,  on  Spring  Street. 

In  the  year  1872  Mr.  Jorres  bought  out  the  interest  of  Culverwell 
in  the  wharf  at  the  ftx)t  of  F  Street,  and  engaged  in  ballasting  vessels 
and  other  business  in  connection  with  the  wharf  He  has  recently  be- 
gun the  extension  of  the  wharf,  and  it  will,  when  completed,  be  one  of 
the  best  wharves  on  the  water  front. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCI/I-S.  147 

Mr.  Jorres  was  for  seven  years  County  Treasurer,  retiring  from 
office  in  iS'S5.  He  was  elected  on  the  Democratic  ticket.  During  his 
residence  in  San  Diego  he  has  ahvays  been  aH\'e  to  the  interests  of  the 
city,  and  has  done  his  full  share  towards  its  material  advancement.  He 
was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  railroad  and  (hd  all  in  his  power  to  have 
it  brought  here. 

Mr.  Jorres  was  married  in  1854,  in  Hanover,  to  Miss  Sophie  Klien- 
gibel.  He  had  gone  to  the  old  country  from  .San  Francisco  to  visit  his 
parents,  and  while  there  met  and  was  married  to  Miss  Kliengibel. 
They  came  to  San  Francisco,  arri\ing  there  in  August,  1854.  Thev 
have  six  children  living,  one  son  and  hxe  daughters;  they  ha\e  lost 
three  sons.  Their  son,  George  W. ,  was  for  two  years  postmaster,  but 
resigned  last  fall  to  accept  the  position  of  assistant  cashier  in  the  San 
Diego  National  Bank. 

Mr.  Jorres  owns  considerable  city  property  and  has  a  very  com- 
fortable residence  on  the  corner  of  Union  and  B  Streets,  which  he  built 
in  1869,  previous  to  the  arrival  of  his  family  from  San  Francisco. 


CHARLES  J.    FOX,  C.   E. 

No  MAN  has  been  more  closely  identified  with  San  Diego  County 
during  the  past  eighteen  years,  and  no  name  is  better  known  to  the 
early  settlers  and  later  residents,  than  that  of  Charles  J.  Fox.  Mr.  Fux 
was  born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  October  12,  1834.  He  comes  of  a 
noted  family  and  can  trace  his  lineage  back  to  1640,  when  his  ancestors 
settled  in  Massachusetts.  Five  generations  back  on  his  mother's  side, 
Wheelock,  the  head  of  the  family,  was  the  founder  and  first  President  of 
Dartmouth  College,  where  his  portrait  hangs  in  the  art  gallery,  and  Mr. 
Fox's  father,  grandfather,  and  great  grandfather,  were  graduates  of  that 
famous  institution  of  learning. 

His  paternal  grandfather  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  Mr.  Fox  has  in  his  possession  a  book  written  and  jjublished  by  him, 
entitled,  "Fox's  Revolutionary  Adventures."  He  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  British  troops  and  confined  for  some  months  in  the  old  Jei'sey 
prison  ship,  in  Wallabout  Bay,  in  Long  Island  Sound. 

Charles  spent  his  boyhood  days  in  Boston,  and  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen graduated  from  a  scientific  school,  where  mathematics  and  engineer- 
ing were  specialties.  He  had  a  natural  taste  for  these  pursuits,  and  the 
first  work  he  did  after  graduation  was  as  a  member  of  a  railroatl  suney 
party  in  Pennsylvania  in  1S51.  In  the  spring  of  1S53  he  went  West, 
and  until  1869  was  engaged  on  difi'erent  railroads  throughout  the  \\'est- 
ern  States  and  Territories. 

In  the  spring  of  i860  he  crossed  the   plains  to  where  the  city  ot 


148 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


Denver  now  stands,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  that  place,  there 
being  at  that  time  but  few  houses,  and  they  mere  shanties.  Most  of  the 
summer  was  spent  in  California  Gulch,  now  the  site  of  Leadville,  in 
mining,  prospecting  and  surveying.  During  a  recent  trip  to  the  East 
he  stopped  at  Leadville  and  saw  the  remains  of  a  log  house,  which  he 
helped  to  build  in  the  summer  of  i860.     During  1864  and  1865  he  was 


CHARLES  J.   FOX,  C.   E. 

in  the  U.  S.  Engineer  service,  having  charge  of  the  reconstruction 
of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad  from  Memphis  to  Corinth. 

He  continued  to  be  engaged  in  railroad  business  in  the  South  until 
his  health  failed,  and  in  the  spring  of  1869  he  came  to  California.  After 
prospecting  different  parts  of  the  State  for  six  months  he  finally  selected 
San  Diego  as  his  future  residence,  being  attracted  by  the  beauties  of 
the  climate  and  what  he  foresaw  of  its  future  commercial  importance. 

Having  invested  all  his  available  funds  in  San  Diego  real  estate,  he 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKliTCIIHS.  149 

jpened  an  ofifice  for  surveying^  and  engineering,  and  has  ever  since  de- 
voted his  best  abilides  to  aid  in  builchng  up  the  city  and  county.  In 
pursuance  of  this  object  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  organization  of 
the  San  Diego  and  Fort  Yuma  turnpike  road,  two  hundred  miles  in 
length,  which  was  the  first  good  road  across  the  county  to  Arizona,  and 
opened  up  a  good  deal  of  trade  and  travel.  In  1875  he  established  a 
large  apiary  at  Fallbrook,  and  the  following  year  organized  the  Bee 
Keepers'  Association,  of  which  he  was  President,  and  established  agencies 
for  the  sale  of  honey  in  various  Eastern  cities. 

He  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  San  Diego  Society  of  Nat- 
ural History,  and  for  ten  years  its  Treasurer;  also  one  of  the  stockholders 
of  the  Masonic  Building  Association,  and  a  Director  for  se\eral  years; 
also  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  San  Diego  Lodge.  Knights  of 
Pythias,  serving  a  term  as  Chancellor  Commander.  He  was  in  charge 
of  surveys  for  the  Memphis  and  El  Paso  Railroad,  the  .San  Diego  and 
Los  Angeles  Railroad,  and  the  Texas  and  Pacific,  being  the  first  engineer 
to  call  attention  to  and  survey  through  the  famous  Temecula  Canon, 
now  occupied  by  the  California  Southern. 

Having  for  several  years  explored  the  county,  including  the  Colo- 
rado Desert,  he  obtained  an  extensive  and  minute  knowledge  of  the 
country,  and  was  generally  called  on  by  new-comers  for  information, 
which  he  always  cheerfully  gave.  He  was  active  in  protecting  the  rights 
of  the  settlers  from  the  greed  of  land  monopolists,  and  was  se\eral 
times  elected  County  Sur\'eyor  and  City  Engineer,  and  filled  these  situ- 
ations to  the  satisfaction  of  all.  In  connection  with  his  partner.  Mr. 
H.  I.  Willey,  afterwards  State  Surveyor-General,  he  prepared  and  pub- 
lished the  official  and  only  map  of  San  Diego  County. 

By  appointment  of  the  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  he  served  as 
Commissioner  in  the  partition  of  most  of  the  Spanish  grants,  including 
the  ex-Mission  grant  of  fifty-two  thousand  acres,  surrounding  the  city 
of  San  Diego. 

He  is  now  owner  of  considerable  real  estate  in  the  city,  and  a  good 
deal  of  county  land,  including  a  tract  at  Linda  Vista,  where  he  was  the 
first  to  make  improvements  on  Government  land;  and  he  also  owns  a 
large  interest  in  the  Junipero  Land  and  Water  Company,  of  which  he  is 
the  President. 

Mr.  Fox  is  senior  member  of  the  sur\-eying  firm  of  Fox  tS:  Ryan, 
and  is  interested  in  many  important  enterprises.  He  has  alw a\s  been 
active  and  liberal  in  support  of  every  important  public  measure,  espe- 
cially during  San  Diego's  dark  days,  and  has  the  respect  of  all  the  old 
settlers. 

Mr.  Fox  married,  in  1880,  Mrs.  A.  A.  Cosper.  of  San  Diego.  Thev 
have  no  children. 


A.   KLAUBER. 


A.  Klauber,  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Klauber  &  Levi,  was 
born  in  Austria  in  1830,  but  emigrated  to  the  United  States  when  quite 
a  young  man.  After  a  few  years  spent  in  the  Eastern  States  he  came 
to  California  early  in  the  fifties.  His  first  start  was  made  in  Volcano, 
Amador  County.  From  there  he  went  to  Genoa,  Nevada,  where  he 
engaged  in  the  general  merchandise  business.  In  1869  he  came  to  San 
Diego,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  entered  into  partnership  with  Mr. 
Steiner,  in  the  grocery  business.  Although  Mr.  Klauber  is  naturally  of 
a  conservative  nature,  he  had  no  sooner  become  established  in  San  Diego 
than  the  great  natural  ad\antages  of  the  place  so  impressed  him  that  he 
pushed  his  business  just  as  rapidly  as  prudence  would  permit,  and  as 
profits  accrued  to  him  he  invested  largely  in  real  estate.  The  result  has 
justified  Mr.  Klauber's  judgment,  and  he  is  to-day  not  only  the  head 
of  one  of  the  greatest  wholesale  business  houses  in  Southern  California, 
but  his  personal  estate  is  very  large. 

One  of  the  best  evidences  of  the  substantial  character  of  the  growth 
and  permanent  prosperity  of  San  Diego  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  mercantile  house  of  which  Mr.  Klauber  is  the  head  has  been  in 
existence  eighteen  years,  and  has  done  a  good  business  all  through  that 
time,  steadily  increasing  year  by  year,  until  now,  when  its  trade  for  1887 
will,  it  is  estimated,  reach  the  sum  of  one  million  dollars.  The  firm  of 
Steiner  &  Klauber,  of  which  Klauber  &  Levi  are  the  successors,  was 
formed  in  the  fall  of  1869.  At  that  time  the  population  of  San  Diego 
was  very  small,  but  the  "  back  country  "  gave  promise  even  then  of  its 
future,  and  the  new  firm  was  soon  doing  a  good  business  with  the  min- 
ing district  about  Julian  and  the  large  ranches  in  this  and  San  Bernar- 
dino Counties.  In  1876  Mr.  Levi  acquired  an  interest,  and  the  firm  be- 
came known  as  Steiner,  Klauber  &  Co.  This  was  the  style  of  the  firm 
until  the  ist  of  January,  1883,  when  Mr.  Steiner  retired  and  it  became 
known  by  its  present  name.  The  principal  part  of  the  business  of  the 
old  firm  of  Steiner  &  Klauber  was  retailing  general  merchandise,  dry 
goods,  etc.  Gradually,  however,  this  trade  increased  to  such  propor- 
tions that,  after  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Steiner,  the  firm  began  to  give 
their  attention  more  especially  to  wholesaling.  It  was  not,  however,  until 
a  year  ago  last  March  that  they  decided  to  quit  the  retail  branch  of  their 
business  entirely.  By  that  time  the  development  of  the  interior  of  the 
county  and  the  rapid  growth  of  the  city  made  a  change  in  their  business 
(150) 


BIOGRAPiriCAL  SKE rCffl'S. 


isr 


imperative  and  they  notified  all  their  eustoniers  to  that  etiect,  sold  out 
all  their  open  goods  of  tlie  retail  class,  and  devoted  themselves  solely  to 
the  wholesale  trade. 

With  this  change  in  their  business,    enlarged  facilities  were  de- 
manded.   Their  old  quarters  on  Fifth  and  H  Streets  were  too  r<')ntraft<-d. 
I     and  they  decided  to  move  into  and  occui^y  the  whole  of  the  large  build- 


A.  KI,.\UBER. 

ing  on  the  corner  of  H  and  Fourth  Streets.  This  was  completi-d  and 
the  firm  took  possession  in  September  last.  The  new  building  is  of 
brick,  four  stories  in  height,  and  has  a  frontage  of  one  hunilred  feet  on 
H  Street,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  on  Fourth.  On  the  ditterent 
floors  and  in  a  spacious  basement,  extending  under  the  whole  building, 
and  well  lighted  and  ^■entilated,  are  stored  an  immense  stock  of  grocer- 
ies, liquors,  hardware,  cigars,  tolxicco,  wagon  materials  and  agricultu- 
ral implements.  In  addition  to  this  building,  the  firm  has  two  large 
13 


152  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

warehouses,  one  on  the  corner  of  Seventh  and  I,  the  other  situated  on 
the  corner  of  Fourth  and  K.  The  former  is  100x125  feet  in  dimen- 
sions and  is  used  for  the  storage  of  agricultural  implements;  the  latter 
contains  an  immense  surplus  stock  of  the  heavier  classes  of  merchandise, 
groceries,  flour,  etc.,  and  is  so  arranged  that  the  cars  of  the  railroad 
company  are  discharged  at  its  doors.  The  firm  does  a  large  business 
in  San  Diego  and  San  Bernardino  Counties  and  in  Lower  California. 
There  is  not  a  freight  train  leaving  on  the  California  Southern,  a  stage 
or  mule  team  starting  for  the  "back  country,"  or  a  steamer  departing 
for  southern  jjorts,  but  carries  consignments  from  this  firin. 

Mr.  Klauber  has  always  been  one  of  the  live  men  of  the  city,  and  has 
done  his  utmost  to  advance  its  material  interests.  He  was  Chairman  of 
the  Board  of  Supervisors  for  two  years,  from  1878  to  1880,  but  has  gen- 
erally expressed  himself  as  averse  to  holding  public  office.  He  is  in- 
terested in  the  San  Diego  and  Cuyamaca  Railroad  Co.,  now  build- 
ing a  line  to  extend  to  Julian  and  open  up  a 'much-neglected  but  rich 
portion  of  the  county.  He  is  interested  in  what  is  known  as  the 
.Steiner,  Klauber,  Choate  &  Castle  Addition  to  San  Diego,  a  tract 
placed  upon  the  market  last  year,  which  met  with  a  ready  sale.  He 
is  also  a  large  owner  of  timber  lands  in  Mendocino  County.  He  has  a 
permanent  home  in  this  city,  but,  being  the  resident  partner  in  San 
Francisco,  he  is  obliged  to  spend  most  of  his  time  there. 

Mr.  Klauber  was  married  in  Sacramento,  in  1851,  to  Miss  Theresa 
Epstein.  They  have  nine  children  living  and  four  have  died.  The 
eldest  son,  Melville  M.  Klauber,  is  with  the  firm  in  this  city.  Mr.  Klau- 
ber is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Masonic  Order.  He  is  now  in  the 
best  of  health  and  bids  fair  to  have  many  years  of  life  before  him. 


S.   LEVI. 


The  junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Klauber  &  Levi  is  a  native  of 
Austria,  in  which  country  he  was  born  December  26,  1850.  When 
twelve  years  of  age  he  came  to  this  country,  landing  in  New  York  City. 
From  there  he  went  to  Syracuse,  where  he  remained  six  months  and 
then  .started  for  California.  He  arrived  in  San  Francisco  in  March,  1863, 
and  went  directly  to  Auburn,  Placer  County.  In  that  town  he  lived 
two  years,  turning  his  hand  to  whatever  came  in  his  way.  In  1865  he 
returned  to  San  Francisco  and  entered  the  employ  of  Sweitzer,  Sachs 
&  Co. , with  whom  he  remained  until  January,  1873,  when  he  came  to 
San  Diego.  After  a  brief  stay  here  he  went  to  Temecula,  in  this  county, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  general  merchandise  business.  In  1876  he 
sold  out  his  interest  in  Temecula  and  came  to  San  Diego,  where  he  was 
admitted  into  the  firm  of  Steiner  &  Klauber.     In  January,  1883,  Messrs. 


BIO  GRA  nilK  \\L  SKIi '/'(  If  US. 


I  S3 


Klauber  and  Le\i  bought  out  Mr.  Stciiicr  and  he  retired  from  the  firm. 
It  is  since  that  time  that  the  business  of  the  house  has  reached  such 
great  proportions,  and  it  is  not  improper  to  say  that  the  rapid  increase 
in  business  is  owing  largely  to  the  energy,  push,  and  personal  po[)ular- 
itv  of  the  junior  partner.  Mr.  Levi's  career  has  been  a  remarkably 
j  fortunate  one,  but  his  success  has  been  entirely  due  to  his  perseverance 


S.  LEVI. 

and  indomitable  will.  Coming  to  this  country  at  an  early  age.  he  was 
thrown  entirely  upon  his  own  resources,  and  in  the  battle  of  life  no  time 
was  accorded  him  in  which  to  study  or  obtain  even  a  common-school 
education.  It  was  not  until  he  had  become  located  in  San  Francisco 
that  he  had  so  far  prospered  in  his  worldly  affairs  that  he  could  afford 
to  set  aside  some  time  to  the  improvement  of  his  minil.  He  then  de- 
voted his  spare  moments  to  .study,  attended  evening  school,  and  availed 
himself  of  every  means  in   his  power  to  make   amends  for  his  lack  of 


154  C/rr  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

early  educational  adv^antages.  He  is  now  considered  one  of  the  best- 
equipped  and  most  thorough  business  men  in  the  county.  He  has  at 
different  times  taken  an  earnest  interest  in  poHtics,  and  was  elected 
Councilman  from  the  First  Ward,  on  the  Citizens'  ticket,  at  the  election 
held  last  fall.  This  was  the  first  election  under  the  new  'charter  giving 
the  city  a  Mayor  and  twelve  Councilmen.  He  was  President  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  in  1882;  was  Master  of  the  Masonic  Lodge  in 
1882,  '83  and  '84;  is  now  Vice-President  of  the  San^  Diego  Gas  and 
Electric  Light  Co. ,  Vice-President  of  the  San  Diego  Telephone  Co. ,  and 
President  of  the  Building  and  Loan  Association.  He  is  a  thoroughly 
public-spirited -citizen,  and  there  is  not  an  important  public  movement 
but  finds  in  him  an  earnest  friend  and  promoter. 

Mr.  Levi  was  married,  in  1H76,  to  Miss  E.  Meyer,  of  San  P'rancisco. 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  three  children,  all  of  whom  are  living 
with  their  parents. 


BRYANT   HOWARD. 


OxE  of  the  best  known  and  most  respected  of  San  Diego's  citizens, 
is  the  President  of  the  Consolidated  National  Bank,  Bryant  Howard. 
Mr.  Howard  is  a  native  of  New  York,  and  is  at  the  present  time  in  the 
very  prime  of  life.  He  first  came  to  San  Diego  in  1870,  and  soon 
afterwards,  in  company  with  the  late  James  M.  Pierce  and  one  or  two 
others,  founded  the  Bank  of  San  Diego,  of  which  he  was  the  first  cashier. 
The  bank  building  was  then  located  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  H 
Streets.  A  short  time  after  this  the  Commercial  Bank  of  San  Diego 
was  incorporated. 

About  1873,  Mr.  Howard  resigned  his  position  as  cashier,  and 
started  for  Europe  with  his  wife  on  an  extended  tour.  Upon  his  return 
to  this  country  he  engaged  in  business  in  Los  Angeles,  dealing  in 
paints,  oils  and  glass.  His  house  was  soon  in  the  front  rank  among 
the  business  houses  of  that  city.  Under  the  style  of  Howard  &  Co. , 
the  firm  has,  until  recently,  been  in  existence  and  doing  a  large  trade. 
It  is  now  consolidated  with  on.e  of  the  leading  firms  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.  Soon  after  locating  in  Los  Angeles,  a  strong  effort  was  made 
by  some  of  the  leading  financial  men  thereto  induce  Mr.  Howard  to 
take  charge  of  a  bank  there  which  they  would  start.  He  had,  how- 
ever, a  longing  to  return  to  San  Diego,  not  only  because  he  preferred 
it  as  a  place  of  residence,  but  he  foresaw  its  great  commercial  future. 

About  this  time  his  old  bank  in  San  Diego  and  the  Commercial 
bank  were  merged  into  one,  and  known  as  the  Consolidated  National 
Bank.  Of  this  institution  Mr.  Howard  became  cashier.  The  capital 
stock  of  the  bank  was  at  first  $100,000;  but  in  August  last  it  was  in- 


B 10  C;R.  1  PHIL  AL  Skli  TL 11  US.  1 55 

creased, to  $250,000.  For  several  years  Mr.  Howard  has  been  Presi- 
dent of  the  institution,  and  under  his  prudent  management  it  has 
assumed  a  leading  place  among  the  financial  institutions  of  Stjuthern 
California.  The  bank  has  never  speculated  in  real  estate,  nor  have  any 
of  its  officers  engaged  in  any  outside  speculations.  While  strictly  c<>n- 
servative  in  matters  connected  with  the  affairs  of  the  bank,  Mr.  How- 
ard is  one  of  the  most  progressive  of  San  Diego's  citizens.  Every 
movement  for  the  adx'ancement  of  the  city  or  its  people  finds  in  him  an 
able  acKocate  and  a  substantial  friend.  When  the  first  fire  company 
was  started  here  he  made  it  a  present  of  a  fire  bell,  which  is  now  in  use. 
He  is  looked  upon  by  the  fire  laddies  as  their  especial  patrcjn  ami  ben- 
efactor, and  one  of  the  companies  is  named  after  him. 

The  San  Diego  Benevolent  Association,  which  has  been  in  exist- 
ence for  some  time,  has  done  an  immense  deal  of  good  in  a  quiet  way 
t  )ward  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the  deserving  poor.  One  of -its 
principal  promoters  and  continued  benefactors  is  Bryant  Howard. 
When  efforts  were  being  made  to  induce  the  Texas  Pacific  to  come  to 
San  Diego,  Bryant  Howard  was  among  the  foremost  in  holding  out 
inducements,  and  as  a  member  of  the  Citizens'  Committee  he  worked 
early  and  late  to  bring  about  that  object.  When  that  project  failed, 
and  later  on  the  Atchison  people  showed  an  inclination  to  build  toward 
this  city,  Mr.  Howard  was  equally  as  energetic  in  his  efforts  to  induce 
them  to  come.  The  late  James  M.  Pierce,  who  was  a  warm  personal 
friend  of  Mr.  Howard,  as  w^ell  as  a  business  associate,  left  a  munificent 
sum — $150,000 — for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  home  for  boys  and  girls. 

It  is  understood  that  Mr.  Howard,  in  conjunction  with  two  or  three 
other  gentlemen,  who  will  each  donate  the  same  amount,  contemplate 
•the  endowment  of  a  chain  of  benevolent  institutions,  which  will  result  in 
great  benefit  to  San  Diego.  The  plan,  as  proposed,  includes  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Boys'  and  Girls'  Aid  Society  (this  is  provided  for  by  the  will 
of  the  late  James  M.  Pierce),  an  Orphans'  Home,  a  Kindergarten,  an  In- 
dustrial School,  a  School  of  Technology  and  a  Women's  and  Children's 
Hospital,  all  embracing  the  same  scope;  the  object  being  to  gather 
together  all  waifs  and  homeless  children  and  give  them  a  thorough 
education.  Those  too  young  to  go  to  the  public  school  will  be  sent  to 
the  kindergarten  connected  with  these  institutions.  The  sum  of  S600.- 
000  has  been  already  pledged  to  carry  out  this  magnificiiU  sclienu'  ol 
benevolence. 

Mr.  Howard  has  been  twice  married.  He  has  two  children,  lioth 
])ovs,  the  eldest  of  whom,  seventeen  yi-ars  of  age,  is  a  clerk  in  the  bank. 
The  youngest  is  four  or  h\e  )"ears  of  age 


JOHN   S.   HARBISON. 


There  is  no  jjroduct  of  San  Dieoc^  County  that  has  done  more  to 
spread  abroad  her  fame,  than  her  honey.  It  has  acquired  a  reputation 
in  the  markets  of  the  world  of  the  highest  character.  It  is  well  known 
to  the  agriculturist  that  a  section  capable  of  producing  such  lionev 
must  possess  superior  advantages  of  soil  and  climate,  and,  as  a  result, 
the  attention  of  a  class  of  people  has  been  directed  hither  who  might 
hav€  been  influenced  by  the  ordinary  reports  of  the  wonderful  fertility 
of  the  country.  Certainly,  the  man  who  was  the  pioneer  in  making 
known  the  fact  that  San  Diego  County  was  an  apiarian  paradise,  is  en- 
titled to  be  classed  as  a  public  benefactor.  It  is  concerning  him  that 
this  sketch  is  written.   , 

John  S.  Harbison  was  born  in  Beaver  County,  Pennsylvania, 
September  29,  1826.  He  comes  of  a  sterling  American  stock,  and  can 
trace  his  lineage  back  through  several  generations.  His  grandfather, 
John  Harbison,  and  his  grandmother,  Ma.ssey  Harbison,  were  among 
the  first  settlers  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  locating  near  the  town  of 
Freeport,  twenty-eight  miles  above  Pittsburgh,  on  the  Alleghany  River, 
where  the  first  grist-mill  in  that  region  of  country  was  built  and  oper- 
ated by  his  grandfather.  In  those  days  that  part  of  the  country  was 
subject  to  many  Indian  outbreaks,  and  the  Harbisons  experienced  their 
full  share  of  the  trials  and  sufferings  incident  to  a  life  on  the  frontier. 
His  grandfather  acquired  fame  as  an  Indian  fighter,  and  participated  in 
numerous  engagements  in  repelling  the  frequent  murderous  raids 
made  on  the  settlers  by  the  treacherous  tribes  of  Indians  inhabiting  the 
country  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains  on  the  east,  Lak'es  Erie  and 
Michigan  on  the  north  and  west,  and  the  Ohio  River  on  the  south;  and 
as  a  volunteer  soldier,  took  part  in  the  several  expeditions  led  by  St. 
Clair  and  Wayne,  which  subsequently  resulted  in  quelling  all  the  Indian 
disturbances.  Mr.  Harbison's  grandfather  on  his  mother's  side, 
William  Curry,  was  a  chief  armorer  in  the  Continental  service,  and  was 
one  of  the  memorable  minute  men  of  the  Re\olution,  who  were  a 
picked  body  of  men  that  could  be  relied  upon  under  any  circumstances 
and  were  detailed  to  execute  the  most  hazardous  and  important  under- 
takings. He  fought  in  eight  battles  in  that  memorable  struggle,  and 
was  with  Washington  when  he  crossed  the  Delaware  on  that  stormy 
Christmas  night  and  defeated  the  astonished  Hessians  encamped  at 
Trenton. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  Sk^ ETCHES. 


157 


The  youth  and  early  manhood  of  John  S.  Harbison  were  passed 
upon  a  farm,  but  in  1854,  having  an  attack  of  the  gold  fever,  he  made 
up  his  mind  to  come  to  California.  In  October  of  that  year  he  saile<I 
from  New  York  on  the  steamship  Northern  Light,  via  Nicaraugua,  con- 
necting on  this  side  with  the  Sierra  N^evada,  which  haf  1  taken  the  place 
of  the  Yankee  Blade,  the  latter  having  been  wrecked  just  after  leaving 


^ 
^ 

-^ 


JOHN  S.  HARBISON. 

San  Francisco.  He  arrived  in  San  Francisco  Xovcnihcr  20,  and  im- 
mediately started  for  the  mining  camp  known  as  Campo  Seco.  in 
Amador  County.  Here  he  found  that  gold  mining  was  not  all  his  im- 
agination had  pictured,  he  worked  hard  and  received  \ery  meager 
returns.  Considerably  discouraged  he  left  the  mines  \\\  a  few  weeks, 
and  went  down  to  Sacramento.  Glad  to  turn  his  hand  to  anything,  he 
secured  work  in  the  Sutterville  saw-mill,  where  he  stayed  several 
months.      In  the  meantime  Harbison  h:\d  mwdc  up  his   mind  he  would 


158  CI TY  AND  CO  UNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

gi\-e  up  the  avocations  for  whicli  he  had  Httle  taste,  and  devote  him- 
seit'  to  something  with  which  he  was  acquainted.  He  sent  home  to 
Pennsylvania  for  a  general  assortment  of  seeds,  and  a  small  invoice  of 
fruit  trees.  He  received  the  hrst  consignment  in  February,  and  secured 
ground  in  the  town  of  Sutterville,  near  Sacramento  City,  where  he 
started  the  first  nursery  of  fruit  and  shade  trees  in  the  Sacramento 
Valley.  During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1855,  and  again  in  the  fall  of 
1856,  he  made  large  importations  of  the  choicest  fruit  trees  from  the 
most  celebrated  nurseries  in  the  East.  From  these  importations  was 
started  that  great  series  of  orchards  which  line  the  banks  of  the  Sac- 
ramento Ri\-er  and  adjacent  country. 

In  May,  1857,  he  returned  to  his  Eastern  home,  and  began  prepa- 
rations for  shipping  a  quantity  of  bees  to  California.  He  finally  started 
from  New  York  with  sixty-seven  colonies,  and  landed  them  safely  i.i 
Sacramento,  after  a  journey  of  about  four  weeks.  This  venture  was  so 
popular  that  he  went  East  again  the  next  f.dl,  and  obtained  a  second 
supply  of  bees,  which  also  were  safely  brought  to  this  State.  He  con- 
tinued the  business  of  nurseryman  and  apiarist  near  Sacramento  until 
February,  1874,  when  he  remo\-ed  with  his  family  to  San  Diego,  where 
he  has  resided  ever  since. 

In  the  fall  of  1869,  Mr.  Harbison  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
R.  G.  Clark,  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  and  keeping  bees  in  San 
Diego  County.  They  prepared  a  choice  selection  of  one  hundred  and 
ten  hives  of  bees  from  Mr.  Harbison's  apiaries  at  Sacramento,  and 
shipped  them  by  the  steamer  Orizaba,  which  landed  in  San  Diego  on 
the  morning  of  November  28,  1869.  Mr.  Clark  remained  in  charge  of 
the  bees,  making  all  the  explorations  for  the  most  suitable  ranges  for 
the  location  of  apiaries  and  production  of  honey.  Other  importations 
were  made  by  the  firm,  and  the  partnership  was  continued  for  the 
period  of  four  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  a  division  of  the  apiaries 
and  effects  was  made.  Mr.  Clark  soon  after  disposed  of  his  apiaries, 
purchasing  land  in  the  El  Cajon  Valley,  where  he  established  the  first 
raisin  vineyard  in  the  county. 

The  great  success  attending  the  enterprise  of  Messrs.  Clark  and 
Harbison,  and  the  world-wide  fame  of  their  San  Diego  County  honey, 
\'ery  soon  attracted  the  notice  of  bee-keepers  and  farmers  of  all  parts  of 
the  States,  and  as  a  result,  many  were  induced  to  come  here,  who  took 
up  public  lands,  established  homes,  and  commenced  the  business  of  bee- 
keeping and  tilling  of  the  soil. 

In  December,  1857,  Mr.  Harbison  invented  the  section  honey  box, 
an  invention  which  has  done  more  for  the  advancement  of  honey  pro- 
duction than  any  other  discovery  in  bee-keeping.  For  this  he  was 
granted  a  patent,  January  4,  1859.  -^t  the  California  State  F'air,  held 
at  Marysville,  in  September,  1858,  Mr.  Harbison  exhibited  the  first  sec- 
tion box  honev. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SkliTClHiS.  159 

In  1873  the  firm  of  Clark  ik.  Harbison  shipped  the  first  car  load 
of  honey  across  the  continent  from  California.  Mr.  Harbison  was 
awarded  a  medal  and  diploma  for  his  exhibit  of  San  Diego  Countv 
honey  at  the  Centennial  Exposition  at  Philadelphia,  in  1.S76.  Ik-sides 
his  labors  as  a  practical  horticulturist,  a  farmer  and  apiarist,  Mr.  Harbi- 
son has  found  time  to  contribute  occasionally  to  current  literature  on 
those  subjects  with  which  he  is  fomiliar,  and  is  the  author  of  a  book  of 
four  hundred  and  forty  pages,  entitled,  "  Bee  Keepers'  Directory;"  it 
treats  of  bee  culture  in  all  its  departments  and  is  a  recognized  authority 
on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats.  Although  it  was  published  in  1861, 
it  is  still  considered  the  most  practical  work  of  the  kintl  ever  issued. 

Mr.  Harbison  was  married  to  Mar)-  j.  White,  of  New  Q»stle, 
Pennsylvania,  in  i<S65.  The  result  of  the  union  is  one  son.  who  died  in 
infancy,  and  two  daughters,  both  of  whom  are  living. 


COL.  CHALMERS    SCOTT. 


One  of  the  best-known  citizens  of  San  Diego  is  Colonel  Chalmers 
Scott.  He  is  a  native  of  Louisiana,  having  been  born  in  New  Orleans, 
May  9,  1845.  In  1854  he  came  with  his  parents  to  .San  Francisco, 
where  his  father,  Re\'.  William  A.  Scott,  was  for  many  years  pastor 
of  St.  John's  Presbyterian  Church.  Chalmers  attended  the  public 
schools  until  1861,  when  he  went  to  Europe  with  his  parents.  He  at- 
tended college  in  Montaubau,  France,  up  to  June,  1862,  and  then  was 
a  student  in  the  University  College,  London,  until  .May,  1863.  His  fam- 
ily then  returned  to  the  I'nited  States  and  he  accompanied  them. 
From  June,  1863,  to  May,  1864,  he  attended  the  law  department  of  the 
University  of  New  York,  graduating  at  the  head,  though  the  youngest 
of  his  class,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  ha\ing  the  degree  of  LL.H. 
conferred  upon  him.  He  then  entered  the  law  office  ot  Hlatchford, 
Seward  &  Griswold,  where  he  remained  until  November,  1864.  when  he 
returned  to  San  Francisco  and  for  a  year  read  law  in  the  office  i»l 
Haight  &  Pierson.  He  would  ha\e  continued  his  legal  studies  but  an 
injury  to  one  ol  his  eyes,  recei\ed  when  at  school,  so  affected  the  sight 
that  he  found  close  application  to  his  books  was  using  up  his  eyes  com- 
jjletely.  A  sea  voyage  was  nxximmended,  and  just  at  this  time  he  uKt 
the  late  Thomas  M.  Cash,  who  was.  at  that  time,  the  representative  of 
the  New  York  Herald  o\\  this  coast.  Hv  him  Mr.  Scott  was  appointed 
special  correspondent  of  the  Herald,  to  make  a  \x\\>  to  Ch"na  and  back. 

He  made  the  trij).  was  gone  nearlv  three  months,  antl  on  his  return 
rushed  through  a  two-thousand-word  dispatch  to  ihc //-/v?/;/ before  any 


i6o 


C/T)'  .l.\7)  COCXl'}'  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


other  newspaper  man  could  ii^et  a  word  of  the  news.  A  few  days  after- 
wards Mr.  Bennett  appointed  him  by  telegraph  resident  correspondent 
of  the  Herald  in  China.  This,  however,  he  was  obliged  to  decline. 
His  eyes  still  troubled  him  and  he  went  into  the  Sierras  with  an  engi- 
neering party. of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad,  remaining  from  June,  1867^ 
to  April,  1S68.     Becoming  snow  blind  he  returned  to  San  Francisco. 


COL.  CHALMERS  SCOTT. 


The  Spring  Valley  Water  Company  was  then  building  their  great  San 
Andreas  dam,  and  he  joined  the  construction  force  under  Colonel 
Elliott,  U.  S.  Engineer  Corps,  as  paymaster. 

At  the  end  of  a  year  he  resigned  and  again  resumed  the  study  of 
the  law,  entering  the  office  of  Gen.  W.  H.  L.  Barnes.  In  January, 
1870,  his  attention  was  attracted  to  San  Diego,  and  looking  upon  it  as  a 
coming  cit\-  he  came  here  and  formed  a  law  partnership  with  Col. 
G.  A.  Jones.      He  was  admitted  to  the  b  u"  in  July,  1870,  and  in  March 


JU(  )(.R.  ]/'///( :  1 1.  SKI-:  7(  If  lis.  I A I 

ot  the  Icili()\\iiii4  y*^-ii'  1k'  was  a])p(>int((l  C(jiinty  Clerk,  to  fill  tin-  iiin-x- 
pirtd  term  of  Capt.  (ieo.  A.  I^endletoii,  deceased.  He  joined  tin- 
Texas  Pacific  Survey  as  transitmaii  under  C.  J.  Fox,  and  made  a  survey 
from  San  Diego  to  San  Gorgonino  Pass. 

In  March,  1^73,  the  party  being  called  in,  he  resumed  his  law  prac- 
tice. In  November,  1874,  having  married  Maria  Antonio  Coutts,  eldest 
daughter  of  the  late  C.  J.  Coutts,  he  moved  out  to  the  homestead  on 
Rancho  (iuajome  as  legal  advisor  of  the  estate.  In  December,  1875,  In- 
accepted  the  position  of  Deputy  State  Treasurer  under  Don  Jose 
Guadalupe  Estudillo,  but  the  climate  of  Sacramento  not  agreeing  with 
his  family  he  returned  to  Guajome.  For  a  short  time,  in  i88o-<Si,  he 
was  in  the  employ  of  the  California  Southern  at  San  Diego,  but  in  May, 
iScSi,  he  was  appointed  Assistant  Engineer  on  the  Central  Pacific  Rail- 
road, in  charge  of  the  survey  from  Yuma  to  Port  Isabel,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Colorado.  From  Yuma  he  was  transferred  to  Corinne,  Utah,  to 
survey  a  line  by  way  of  South  Pass,  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  Yank- 
ton, Dakota.  The  following  year  he  went  to  Tucson,  and  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Hon.  S.  R.  De  Long,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Tucson  and  ( iulf  ot 
California  Railroad  Company,  made  a  reconnoissance  to  Port  Lobos,  and 
afterward  reconnoitered  branch  lines  from  Pacheco  and  (iila  Bend  to 
the  Gunsight  mine  in  Nigers  District,  Arizona.  He  was  afterward  in 
charge  of  the  survey  for  the  extension  of  the  Vaca  Valley  and  Clear 
Lake  Railroad. 

In  August,  1883,  he  was  sent  to  Guatemala  as  Chief  Engineer  of  the 
Central  American  Pacific  Railway  and  Transportation  Co.,  to  build  an 
extension  of  the  Guatemala  Central  Railroad  from  Escuintla  to  the  city 
of  Guatemala,  a  distance  of  thirty-eight  miles.  The  previous  manage- 
ment had  wasted  over  two  years  of  their  time,  and  had  graded  only  five 
miles  of  road,  and  laid  three  miles  of  track,  leaving  thirty-three  miles  to 
be  surveyed,  located,  graded,  and  ironed  in  twelve  months  in  order  to 
save  the  concession.  In  thirteen  miles  of  that  distance  the  grade  is 
continuous  at  the  rate  of  two  hundred  and  forty-six  feet  to  the  mile,  and 
nine  bridges  from  one  hundred  and  eighty  to  two  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  in  length  and  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and 
at  Lake  Amatitlan  there  was  one  solid  fill  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
long  and  eighty  feet  deep  in  the  lake,  which  had  to  be  filled  from  one 
end.  requiring  over  five  hundred  thousand  cubic  yards  of  dirt.  It  was 
in  this  work  that  the  discipline  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  proved 
its  value,  for  with  Colonel  Scott  as  Chief  Engineer  and  j.  B.  Harris 
as  Superintendent  of  Construction,  the  locomotive  blew  its  whistle  in 
(Guatemala  City  on  July  19.  1884.  the  birthday  of  President  Barrios, 
two  months  ahead  of  contract  time. 

That  work  completed,  Colonel  Scott  returned  to  San    Franci>co. 
and  after  spending  a  vear  on  other  railroad  work,  resigned  and  toUowed 
11 


i62  CITY  AND    COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

civil  engineering'  in  Oakland  and  San  Francisco,  returning  to  San 
Diego  in  November,  1886,  where  he  entered  into  the  real  estate  business 
in  April,  1887.  He  is  a  fine  Spanish  scholar  and  is  considered  the  best 
authority  on  Spanish  names  in  this  locality.  He  deals  largely  in  Lower 
California  properties  and  is  an  authority  on  titles.  Colonel  Scott  was 
a  member  of  the  National  Guard  of  California  for  ten  years,  from  1.S65 
to  1S75.  In  the  latter  year  he  was  appointed  Chief  Engineer  with  the 
rank  of  Colonel  on  the  staff  of  Governor  Irwin,  and  served  in  that 
capacity  for  four  years. 

As  previously  noted  Colonel  Scott  married  a  Miss  Coutts,  wlio 
was  an  acknowledged  belle.  She  was  considered  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  young  women  in  Southern  California,  and  to-day  there  ar.^- 
few  matrons  in  the  State  who  can  equal  her  in  queenly  grace  and  at 
tractiveness.  Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  four  children,  one  so:i 
and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom  are  living.  Colonel  Scott  is  himst'li 
a  notable  man  personally.  He  is  six  feet  and  three  and  one-half  inches 
high  and  weighs  two  hundred  pounds. 


CHARLES   HUBBELL. 


One  of  the  substantial  and  pubHc-spirited  citizens  of  San  Diego  is 
Charles  Hubbell.  Although  he  retired  from  active  business  some 
years  ago,  he  takes  a  deep  interest  in  everything  that  pertains  to  the 
advancement  of  the  city.  Mr.  Hubbell  is  a  native  of  the  Empire  .Stat^j, 
having  been  born  in  Ballston  in  Noxember,  181 7.  He  lived  until  he- 
was  seventeen  in  Ballston  and  Oswego  and  then  went  to  Rochester, 
where  he  became  Assistant  Teller  of  the  Bank  of  Monroe.  He  re- 
mained in  Rochester  two  years  and  then  went  to  Pontiac,  Michigan,  t-) 
accept  a  position  as  Cashier  of  a  bank  there.  He  built  and  put  in  o[)- 
eration  the  first  saw-mill  in  Clinton  County,  Michigan,  and  aided  in 
cutting  out  the  first  road  from  Pontiac  to  Ionia,  fifty  years  ago.  H- 
was  one  of  the  original  incorporators  of  Saginaw  City.  He  assisted  in 
the  first  development  of  the  Salt  Springs  of  Northern  Michigan  and 
was  identified  with  many  other  projects  of  importance  in  that  State.  In 
1839  he  returned  to  Rochester  to  act  as  Teller  of  the  Commercial  Bank. 
In  1846  he  removed  to  Cincinnati,  to  become  Teller  of  the  Ohio  Life 
and  Trust  Company.  After  one  year  in  this  position  he  went  into  the 
banking  house  of  Ellis  &  Sturges  as  Cashier. 

In  1853  he  had  a  severe  attack  of  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs  and 
spent  a  year  and  a  half  tra\eling  about  for  the  purpose  of  recovering 
his  health.  Then  he  settled  at  Keokuk,  Iowa,  where  he  remained 
fifteen  years.  There  his  natural  taste  for  horticultural  pursuits,  a  taste 
which  he  had  never  before  had  the  opportunity  to  gratify,  induced  him 


1 


BIOCrRAPUICAL  SKJi 7(  IlI-lS. 


163 


to  engage  in  fruit  raising.  He  resided  c^n  a  farm  during  the  suninier 
months  and  in  the  winter  he  lived  in  the  city  of  Keokuk.  During  his 
stay  there  he  filled  several  city  and  county  offices. 

In  1870,  as  his  health  was  still  far  from   rugged,  on   the  advice  (A 
Professor  Cleaxer,  who  is  now  Surgeon-General  of  the  Santa  Fe  Raii- 
\     road  Co.,  he  started  for  California,  coming  direct  to  San  Diego.     Upon 


CHARLES  IIUBBCLL. 

his  arrival  he  was  so  pleased  with  the  climate  that  he  decided  to  make 
it  his  future  home.  He  purchased  one  hundred  acres  of  land  on  the 
National  Ranch,  and  planted  a  vineyard  and  fruit  orchard.  In  1S74 
he  accepted  the  position  of  Cashier  of  the  Bank  of  San  Diego  and  re- 
mained with  that  institution  until  it  was  merged  with  the  present  Con- 
solidated National  Bank.  Mr.  Hubbell  was  a  member  of  the  Committee 
of  Forty,  appointed  by  the  citizens  to  induce  the  building  of  a  railroad 
to  San  Diego.     He  was  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  committee,  ami 


i64  CITY  AND   COUNTY  Of  SAN  DIEC,  O. 

labored  zealously  to  bring'  about  that  much  desired  object — railroad 
communication  with  the  outside  world. 

Mr.  Hubbell  was  one  of  the  original  stockholders  in  the  California 
.Southern.  He  never  sought  public  office  here,  but  at  the  earnest 
solicitations  of  his  friends  he  ran  for,  and  was  elected.  School  Trustee  in 
1S72,  and  afterward  in  1886,  at  the  latter  time  being  chosen  President 
of  the  Board,  which  position  he  resigned  last  spring.  He  retired  from 
active  business  in  1880,  and  has  since  been  attending  to  his  pri\ate 
affairs.  Before  coming  to  San  Diego  his  health  was  so  bad  tliat  he 
was  not  expected  to  live,  but  now,  at  the  age  of  seventy,  he  enjoys 
perfect  health,  is  active,  and  looks  much  younger  than  he  really  is. 
He  has  been  prominently  identified  with  the  horticultural  interests,  and 
has  been  Secretary  of  the  County  Horticultural  Society. 

"In  religion,"  Mr,  Hubbell  says,  "I  am  a  Baptist,  ha\'ing  be- 
longed to  a  church  of  that  independent  and  democratic  organization, 
nearly  fifty  years.  I  accept  implicitly  the  doctrines  taught  by  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  in  their  spirituality,  and  particularly  as  to  purity,  truth. 
love,  universal  benevolence,  and  the  golden  rule  of  sixteen  ounces  to 
the  pound." 

The  ancestral  motto  of  his  family  has  always  been,  Esse,  qiiam 
videri — be  what  you  seem  to  be.  Mr.  Hubbell  was  married  in  1843 
in  Rochester,  New  York,  to  Miss  Anna  M.  Sage,  who  died  very  sud- 
denly in  1 88 1.  During  the  thirty-seven  years  of  her  married  life,  she 
was  never  known  to  speak  an  unkind  word  to  either  her  husband  or 
children.  He  has  had  seven  children,  of  whom  five  are  living,  torn- 
sons  and  one  daughter.  One  of  his  sons  is  a  lawyer,  practicing  in 
Rochester.  One  is  a  student  in  Crozer  Seminary  in  Pennsylvania  and 
two  are  connected  with  the  First  National  Bank  of  this  city.  He  is 
now  building  a  residence,  to  cost  about  $ro,ooo,  on  the  corner  of  Eighth 
and  Ash  Streets,  adjoining  the  residence  of  his  son,  O.  S.  Hubbell. 


O.  S.    HUBBELL. 


The  stranger  visiting  San  Diego  is  naturally  astonished  at  the 
progress  made  by  the  city  during  the  past  two  years.  If  he  was  to  be 
told  that  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  designing  and  carrying  out  the 
improvements  that  meet  his  gaze  on  every  hand, — the  street  railroads. 
the  ferry,  the  motor  lines,  the  beautiful  suburban  tracts, — was  a  young 
man,  not  yet  thirty  years  of  age,  his  astonishment  would  not  be  lessened. 
O.  S.  Hubbell  has  already  accomplished  in  his  brief  business  career  far 
more  than  many  men,  who  deem  themselves  favored  by  fortune,  ha\  e 
done  in  the  space  of  a  long  and  laborious  life-time.  Mr.  Hubbell  was 
born  in  Keokuk,  Iowa,  May  29,  1859,  but  removed  with  his  i)arents  to 


I 


DIOGRArillCAL  SKIi  7  (  UES. 


l6: 


San  Diego  when  he  was  twelve  years  of  age.  On  his  arri\al  here  he  at- 
tended the  piibHc  schools,  graduating  at  the  high  school.  He  made 
preparations  to  enter  college,  but  his  health  failing  he  relinquished  that 
object  and  entered  the  enii)loy  of  the  Bank  of  San  Diego,  the  first 
bank  established  in  this  city,  in  the  latter  part  of  1.S76.  He  first  was 
,  book-keeper,    then   teller,   and  tlu  11  was  a])pointed   assistant   cashier. 


O.  S.   HUBBELL. 

He  remained  with  this  institution  three  years,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  was  one  of  the  incorporators  and  a  stockholder  of  the  Consolidated 
Bank  of  San  Diego,  and  also  an  incorporator  and  stockholder  in  tlu- 
Consolidated  National  Bank.  He  continued  with  this  bank  until  1885. 
when  he  resigned  and  became  a  stockholder  and  accepted  the  position 
of  assistant  cashier  in  the  First  National  Bank.  In  1886  he  was  elected 
a  director  and  soon  afterward  cashier,  a  position  which  he  still  occupies. 
His  wide  acquaintance  and  well-known  ability  as  a  financier,  atlded  to 


i66  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

his  acknowledged  integrity,  aided  \ery  materially  in  giving  the  bank 
its  present  high  position  The  deposits  when  he  first  became  connected 
with  it  were  about  $50,000,  now  they  amount  to  nearly  $2,500,000. 

Mr.  Hubbell  is  a  half  owner  of  Reed  &  Hubbell's  Addition.  This 
was  the  first  addition  of  any  size  cut  up  from  acre  property  into  lots 
and  put  on  the  market  with  any  success.  It  was  first  offered  in  August, 
1886.  It  IS  situated  on  the  bay  between  San  Diego  and  National  City, 
and  originally  consisted  of  210  acres.  They  sold  80  acres  in  a  body 
and  cut  the  balance  up  into  lots.  The  property  is  now  very 
valuable.  Among  other  land  corporations  with  which  Mr.  Hubbell  is 
connected,  are  the  Escondido  Land  and  Town  Co.,  the  San  Marcos 
Land  Co.,  the  El  Cajon  Valley  Co.,  the  Morena  Land  Co.,  the  Junipero 
Land  and  Water  Co.,  and  the  Pacific  Beach  Co.,  in  each  of  which  he 
is  an  incorporator,  a  stockholder,  and  a  director.  He  is  a  stockholder 
in  the  College  Hill  Land  Association.  He  is  a  stockholder  and  Sec- 
retary of  the  Coronado  Beach  Co.  He  was  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  San  Diego  National  Bank,  and  the  Bank  of  Escondido,  and  a 
stockholder  in  the  Bank  of  Elsinore  and  the  Exchange  Bank  of  Elsinore. 
He  was  one  of  the  incorporators  and  is  a  director  ih  the  Coronado  Ferry 
Co.,  an  incorporator  of  the  San  Diego  Street  Railroad  Co.,  and  an 
incorporator  and  stockholder  in  the  San  Diego  and  Coronado  Water 
Co.,  the  San  Diego  and  Cuyamaca  Railroad  Co.,  the  San  Diego,  Old 
Town  and  Pacific  Beach  Railroad  Co. ,  and  the  West  Coast  Lumber  Co. 
He  is  also  a  one-fourth  owner  in  the  San  Diego  Gas  and  Electric  Light 
Co.,  the  present  stock  of  which  is  $500,000,  and  Treasurer  of  the  com- 
pany. He  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Marine  Railway  and 
Dry  Dock  Co.  He  was  also  an  incorporator  and  is  now  a  Director  of 
the  Cuyamaca  Club,  the  leading  gentlemen's  club  of  San  Diego.  Last 
January  he  was  elected  a  Director  of  the  California  Southern  Railroad 
Co.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  San  Diego  City  Guards,  a 
crack  militia  company,  in  which  he  has  served  for  six  years. 

He  owns  considerable  city  real  estate  besides  his  outside  property. 
He  has  six  lots  on  Sixth  Street,  which  he  intends  to  improve  shortly; 
and  about  $200,000  worth  of  Fifth  Street  property.  He  intends  to  soon 
begin  the  erection  of  a  block  loofeet  square  on  Sixth  Street,  which  will 
be  six  or  seven  stories  in  height,  entirely  fire-proof,  and  will  be  one  of 
the  finest  structures  in  Southern  California.  He  has  in  contemplation 
also  the  erection,  in  connection  with  other  parties,  of  two  or  three  bus- 
iness blocks,  costing  from  $100,000  to  $150,000  each.  He  is  now 
building  a  handsome  residence  on  the  corner  of  Seventh  and  Ash 
Streets,  occupying  a  whole  block,  and  will  cost  when  finished  $50,000. 
The  interior  will  be  finished  entirely  in  natural  woods.  The  site  of  this 
residence  is  known  as  Groesbeck  Hill,  named  after  Mrs.  Hubbell's 
father.  Mr.  Hu'obell  owns  over  1,000  acres  of  land  within  the  limits 
of  the  cit\-  of  San  Dicijo. 


BroGR.]pfrrcAL  sk'nrcfrrs.  le- 

He  was  married  in  San  Diego  in  18.S1  io  Miss  Kate  L.  Ciroesbeck, 
a  daughter  of  (ien.  John  Groesbeck,  formerly  ot  New  York,  who  was 
at  the  time  of  his  tlcath  the  oklest  member  of  the  order  of  Odd  Felknvs 
in  the  United  States.  He  has  two  chiklren,  b(Hh  boys.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  analyze  the  causes  of  Mr.  Hubbell  s  success.  Primarily,  he 
has  had  the  opportunity;  secondly,  he  h  is  ini|)ro\ed  it.  Combining 
in  a  wonderful  degree  keen  financial  foresight  with  prcimptness  of 
decision,  failure  is  to  him  an  unknown  cjuantity.  Personally,  he  is  one 
of  the  most  genial  of  men;  affable  in  his  manners,  courteous  to  all,  his 
popularity  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  It  O.  S.  Hubbell  has  attained  an 
extraordinary  measure  of  success,  the  means  by  which  he  secured  it 
were  such  that  he  has  raised  up  friends  rather  than  enemies  along  his 
pathway  in  life. 

Mr.  Hubbell  has  been  very  hard  worked  during  the  past  few 
years,  and  will  as  soon  as  po.ssible  retire  from  any  active  jxirt  in  the 
management  of  the  many  enterprises  he  is  now  engaged  in,  and  de\ote 
his  whole  time  to  his  duties  at  the  bank,  in  which  institution  he  deserv- 
edly takes  a  great  deal  of  pride,  leaving  to  his  associates  the  conduct 
of  all  outside  afTaifs  with  which  his  name  is  now  connected. 


JOSEPH    FAIX'RE. 

In  a  city  where  the  leading  residents  are  remarkable  for  the  e\'cnt- 
ful  character  of  their  li\'cs,  Joseph  F'aivre  is  entitled  to  take  a  i)rominent 
place.  He  was  born  in  New  Orleans,  on  the  4th  of  June,  1S2S.  When 
Joseph  was  seven  years  old,  his  parents  removed  to  Ohio,  leaxing  him 
in  charge  of  an  acquaintace  engaged  in  the  cooperage  business,  to  whom, 
six  years  later,  their  son  was  apprenticed.  At  the  end  ofsi.x  years 
he  was  pronounced  a  master  of  his  trade,  and  engaged  in  business  on 
his  own  account  as  a  trimmer  of  broken  cargoes  on  the  city  levee.  He 
was  thus  engaged  for  seven  years,  when  he  left  the  Crescent  City  ami 
joined  his  parents  at  Dayton,  Ohio,   and  went  to  work  at  his  trade. 

After  coopering  for  a  year  he  went  to  work  cjuarrying  stone  and 
boating  it  down  the  Miami  Canal  to  Cincinnati,  where  it  was  used  for 
the  Catholic  cathedral  being  built  by  Archbishop  Purcell.  After  com- 
pleting his  quarrying  contract  he  engaged  as  a  buyer  of  tobacco  and 
grain  for  Henry  Harmon,  a  well-known  merchant  of  Dayton.  After 
continuing  at  this  business  for  eight  years  he  returned  to  New  Orleans, 
but  only  remained  there  a  month  when  he  left  for  Indiana,  locating  at 
the  town  of  Adeka,  on  the  Wabash,  where  for  two  years  he  ke}^t  a 
hotel.  His  venture  as  a  landlord,  however,  was  not  a  successful  one. 
He  lost  all  his  savings,  and  removing  to  Otter  Creek,  six  miles  from 
Terra  Haute,  he  went  to  work  at  his  trade  as  a  cooper.  At  the  end 
U 


1 68 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


of  two  years  he  availed  himself  of  an  opportunity  to  lease  the  Prairie 
House  at  Terra  Haute,  a  large  hotel,  which  he  conducted  for  eit^ht 
months.  In  the  fall  of  1856  he  removed  to  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  where 
he  kept  a  livery  stable  for  two  years,  at  the  same  time  being  engaged 
in  buying  and  selling  real  estate.  During  this  time  he  built  seven  or 
eight  houses.  He  made  a  prospecting  tour  through  the  mountains  of 
/ 


JOSEPH    FAIVRE. 

Colorado,  and  at  the  end  of  three  months  located  at  Denver.  There, 
during  the  years  of  1860-61-62,  he  engaged  in  the  wholesale  and  retail 
grocery  business,  doing  the  largest  trade  of  any  house  in  the  city. 
He  was  at  this  time  also  doing  business  as  a  freighter  of  supplies  from 
Leavenworth,  St.  Joe,  Atchison,  and  Nebraska  City  to  Denver.  There 
were  no  railroads  then,  and  Faivre's  wagons  were  the  equivalent 
of  the  freight  trains  of  to-day. 

In  1863  he  sold  out  at  Denver  and  went  into  the  freightmg  business 


BlOGRAI'lIIC.ll.  SKI/rciIi:S.  169 

from  Leavenworth  to  Salt  Lake  and  Virginia,  Montana.  This  track-  was 
quite  hazardous  as,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  dangers  that  befell  his 
trains  in  the  long  journey  across  the  plains,  from  the  elements,  they 
were  liable  to  an  attack  from  bands  of  hostile  Indians,  and  Mr.  Faivre 
was  obliged  to  use  the  utmost  care  and  tact  tcj  avoid  these  wily  foes. 
While  engaged  in  this  business  he  also  conducted  an  auction  and  com- 
mission house  at  Virginia,  Montana.  One  of  his  trains  met  with  a 
serious  accident  while  descending  the  Bear  River  Mountain.  An 
explosion  occurred  in  one  of  the  wagons,  which  was  drawn  by  eight 
yoke  of  large  Missouri  cattle,  and  loaded  with  5,500  pounds  of  powder 
and  75,000  feet  of  fuse.  As  may  be  imagined,  the  shock  was  terrific. 
The  driver  was  blown  to  atoms  and  seven  of  the  cattle  were  killed, 
their  remains  being  scattered  in  all  directions.  During  the  same  tri|j. 
one  of  the  drivers  of  the  train  was  slruck  by  lightning  on  the  Big 
Sandy  River,  in  Wyoming.  There  was  not  a  break  upon  his  skin 
but  the  corpse  was  like  a  mass  of  jelly,  and  the  sole  of  one  of  his  shoes 
was  split  by  the  fluid. 

In  the  sprmg  of  1865  Mr.  Faivre  became  snow  blind,  and  he  re- 
turned to  Leavenworth,  where  he  built  a  residence  and  made  it  his  home. 
In  1870  he  came  to  San  Diego  on  account  of  his  health.  After  a  short 
sojourn  here  he  liked  the  place  so  well  that  he  went  back  to  Leaven- 
worth, settled  up  his  affairs,  and  came  on  here  to  reside  permanently 
in  June,  187 1.  When  he  first  came  here  in  1870,  he  bought  consider- 
able property,  and  upon  locating  here  he  purchased  more  and  engaged 
in  the  business  of  real  estate,  brokerage,  and  loaning  money,  buying 
up  school  warrants,  etc.  About  five  years  ago  he  retired  from  active 
business  and  devoted  his  attention  to  the  conduct  of  his  private  afiairs. 
In  1885  he  made  a  trip  to  Europe*  being  absent  four  months. 

Mr.  Faivre  has  done  a  great  deal  to  develop  and  beautify  San  Diego. 
He  has  built  eight  houses  of  his  own  and  probably  as  many  more  as 
agent  for  others.  One  of  his  buildings  is  a  three-story  brick  50x100 
feet,  on  E  Street,  bet\veen  Fourth  and  Fifth,  nearly  opposite  the  First 
National  Bank,  costing  $16,000.  He  is  now  erecting  a  fine  building 
for  business  purposes,  75x100  feet  in  size,  on  the  corner  of  Scxenth  and 
D  Streets.  One  part  w-ill  be  four  stories  in  height  and  the  portion  on 
the  corner  will  be  five  stories.  It  will  be  provided  with  an  elevator, 
have  all  the  modern  impro\ements,  and  cost  over  $40,000.  Mr.  Faivre 
was  married  in  1848  near  Dayton.  Ohio,  to  Miss  Klyntick.  They 
have  had  one  child,  who  died  of  the  cholera  in  NVw  Orleans. 


GEORGE   WILLIAM   BARNES,   M.  D. 


If  a  j^ractical  example  of  the  benerit  to  be  obtained  from  a  residence 
in  San  Diego  was  wanting,  it  could  be  supplied  from  the  experience  of 
Dr.  George  William  Barnes.  He  has  been  a  resident  of  this  city  for 
seventeen  years,  and  though  formidable  chronic  maladies  with  which  he- 
has  struggled  through  the  greater  part  of  his  professional  life,  still  con- 
tinue, he  finds,  in  this  mild  and  equable  climate,  an  immunity  from  acute 
attacks  and  generally  an  amelioration  of  chronic  affections  that  makes 
existence  comparatively  a  pleasure. 

Dr.  Barnes  was  born  in  Frederick  County,  Virginia,  December  9, 
1825,  and  at  the  age  often  removed  with  his  parents  to  Newark,  Ohio. 
Having  decided  to  follow  the  profession  of  medicine,  he  became  a  stu- 
dent under  the  tutelage  of  Dr.  A.  O.  Blair,  of  Newark,  then  one  of  the 
most  prominent  homeopathic  physicians  of  Ohio.  After  attending 
courses  of  mstruction  in  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio,  the  Eclectic  Med- 
ical Institute  of  Cincinnati,  and  the  Cleveland  Homeopathic  College, 
he  was  graduated  in  the  latter  institution  in  1851.  In  the  same  year  he 
located  in  Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio,  where  he  pursued  an  extensive  and  lucra- 
tive practice  for  fourteen  years.  In  1865,  having  been  elected  to  a  pro- 
fessorship in  the  Cleveland  Homeopathic  Hospital  College,  he  remo\-ed 
to  that  city.  In  1869,  however,  he  was  obliged,  because  of  failing- 
health,  to  resign  his  position  and  seek  a  milder  climate.  He  came  to 
California  and  spent  nearly  a  year  in  the  State  in  the  study  and  obser- 
vation of  its  climatology.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  decided  that  San 
Diego  possessed  in  a  larger  degree  the  conditions  favorable  for  his 
health  and  comfort  than  any  place  he  had  visited,  and  accordingly 
located  here.  Subsequent  experience  has  convinced  him  of  the  wisdom 
of  his  choice.  Several  years  since  Dr.  Barnes  received  a  spinal  injury 
which  has  interfered  to  some  extent  with  physical  effort,  but  notwith- 
standing this  he  continues  to  do  professional  and  other  work  far  beyond 
his  apparent  ability  to  perform.  He  is  a  man  of  immense  vital  force 
and  strength  of  character,  and  besides  his  professional  labors  takes  an 
active  interest  in  all  affairs  pertaining  to  the  social  and  material  advance- 
ment of  the  city.'  While  his  ability  as  a  physician  places  him  in  the 
Iront  rank  of  his  profession,  his  sterling  personal  qualities  have  served 
to  endear  him  to  a  large  circle  outside  of  his  professional  clientele.  He 
invested  considerably  in  city  property  during  the  early  years  of  his  res- 
idence, and  this  having  steadily  enhanced  in  value  has  made  him  inde- 
pendent. He  was  largely  instrumental  in  organizing  the  San  Diego  So- 
(170) 


_J 


p  IOC  RAP  [I  ft  \\L  sk'ii  Ten  US. 


171 


ciety  of  Natural  llist(jr\-,  and  has  labfji'cd  zcalousK-  to  jjroinotc  its 
prosperit}'.  He  has  coiuiiuR-d  as  its  Presidt-nt  since  its  organization  to 
the  present  time. 

Dr.  Barnes  had  associated  with  liini  in  j^ractici;  from  iS.Si  to  1884, 
Dr.  E.  A.  (^ark,  now  of  Los  Angeles,  and  from  the  latter  date  to  the 
1st  of  No\ember  last,  he  had  as  his  associate  Dr.  A.  Morgan.      He  now 


GEORGE  WILLI.\^r  B.\RNES,  M.  D. 

has  associated  with  him  Dr.  B.  F.  Gamber,  late  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  who 
has  successively  filled  the  positions  of  professor  of  anatomy,  of  physi- 
ology, of  hygiene,  antl  of  sanitar\'  science,  at  the  Clexeland  Homeo- 
pathic Hospital  College. 

Dr.  Barnes'  high  professional  standing  is  recognizetl  througln)Ut 
the  country,  and  he  retains  many  e\  Idences  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  is 
held  by  the  medical  fraternit\-.  Anu)ng  the  positions  of  honor  and 
trust  he   has   held   are    the   following:   He   has   been  a  member  of  the 


172  CITY  AXD  COi'XTY  OF  SAX  DIEGO. 

American  Institutt-  of  Homccjpalhy,  the  oldest  national  medical  asso- 
ciation in  the  United  States,  since  1853;  and  since  1878,  in  consec]uence 
of  a  membership  of  over  twenty-five  years,  he  has  belonged  to  the  as- 
sociation of  seniors  of  that  body.  He  aided  in  the  establishment  of  the 
first  medical  dispensary  in  Cleveland  and  the  Homeopathic  Hospital, 
still  in  successful  operation,  and  was  one  of  the  consulting  physicians  of 
the  latter.  H  e  was  ]  )h  vsician  to  the  Cleveland  Protestant  Orphan  Asylum , 
v/as  Secretary  of  the  Cuyahoga  County  Medical  Society  and  Treasurer  of 
the  Western  Institute  of  Homeopathy.  He  assisted  in  the  establishment 
of  the  Ohio  Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter,  and  in  its  editorial  manage- 
ment during  its  first  volume.  Ever  since  his  resignation  from  an  active 
professorshij)  in  the  Cleveland  College  he  has  had  the  honorary  title  of 
Emeritus  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  in  that  institution.  He  is  now  a 
member  of  the  California  State  Homeopathic  Medical  Society,  and  an 
honorary  member  of  the  Los  Angeles  Homeopathic  Medical  Society. 
He  is  also  a  corresponding  member  of  the  St.  Louis  Academy  of  Science 
and  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society.  He  has  contributed  to 
a  great  many  medical  journals  and  is  the  author  of  a  seven-page  pam- 
phlet which  has  been  very  widely  read,  entitled,  "The  Hillocks  and 
Mound  Formations  of  the  Pacific  Coast." 


THOMAS   L    NESMITH. 


It  must  be  a  source  of  pride  to  the  old  residents  of  San  Diego,  the 
men  who  gave  the  impetus  to  its  growth,  that  started  its  "boom,"  to 
look  around  them  and  see  the  city  of  their  creation,  as  it  were,  mak- 
ing such  tremendous  strides,  and  feel  that  to  their  individual  efiforts  is 
largely  due  the  change  from  a  struggling  hamlet  to  a  thriving  young 
metropolis.  Thomas  L.  Nesmith  is  one  of  these  early  San  Diegans, 
one  of  the  men  whose  clear  foresight  and  keen  business  sense  foresaw 
that  on  the  shores  of  this  magnificent  harbor  must  at  no  distant  day 
arise  a  great  commercial  city.  Mr.  Nesmith  is  a  native  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, having  been  born  in  the  town  of  Derry  in  that  State,  in  181 1.  His 
early  youth  was  spent  at  the  old  Nesmith  homestead,  "The  Lilacs," 
at  Derry.  The  rudiments  of  his  education  were  acquired  at  the  dis- 
trict school,  and  he  afterward  attended  the  Pinkerton  Academy  at 
Derry.  After  leaving  school  he  entered  the  emplpy  of  his  Uncle  New- 
comb,  in  Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  as  a  clerk  for  a  short  time.  He  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  progress  he  had  made  in  his  studies,  however,  and 
he  returned  to  the  academy  again  and  completed  his  course.  He  then 
entered  the  store  of  William  Anderson,  a  cousin,  in  Derry,  and  made 
up  his  mind  to  become  a  merchant.  He  remained  there  for  four  years. 
He  had  now  reached  the  age  of  twentv-one,  and  longed'  to   go  out 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKirrCIIIiS.  17.-, 

into  the  world  and  fight  the  battle  of  life  in  earnest.  Hi»  capital, 
measured  by  the  usual  standard,  was  not  large,  but  it  was  substantial. 
It  consisted  of  honesty,  ability,  and  perseverance.  Prejiared  as  he  was 
for  the  contest,  he  started  for  New  York  City,  where  he  obtained  an 
advantageous  position  in  a  large  mercantile  house.  Here  he  remained 
for  fifteen  years,  traveling,  meanwhile,  in  the  course  of  his  business, 


THOMAS   L.   NESMini. 

through  the  different  States  and  West  Indies.  When  he  was  thirty- 
eight  years  old  he  visited  Europe,  with  his  family,  where  he  remaino*! 
two  years.  He  then  returned  to  this  country  and  located  in  the  South, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business.  Afterwards  he  went  to 
Mexico.  After  passing  two  years  in  Mexico,  where  he  established  his 
son,  Anthony  Rutgers  Nesmith,  in  business,  he  romo\ed  \v>  Minnesota, 
where  for  two  years  he  carried  on  banking.  He  hatl  long  desired  t«> 
go  to  California,  but  circumstances  had  pre\ented       In  1S70.  however. 


174  C/T)''  AXD   COUXTV  OF  SAX  DIEGO. 

he  (k'termined  to  go,  and  reached  San  Diego  that  year,  with  his  family. 
San  Diego  has  been  his  home  ever  since,  and  he  was  eight  years  at  one 
time  without  lea\ing  the  county. 

At  the  time  of  his  arrival  here  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  San 
Diego  was  covered  with  sage-brush  and  cactus,  and  there  were  not 
more  than  half  a  dozen  buildings.  The  Horton  House  was  in  course  of 
erection.  There  was  little  promise,  then,  of  the  great  city  of  the  future. 
Within  a  short  time  after  his  arrival  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Bank 
of  San  Diego,  which  position  he  held  until  1883,  when  he  resigned. 
When  the  question  of  railroad  communication  was  first  thoroughly 
agitated,  a  committee  composed  of  the  leading  citizens  was  formed  for 
the  purpose  of  negotiating  with  the  different  railway  corporations  and 
forwarding  the  interests  of  the  city.  Of  this  body,  known  as  the 
"Committee  of  Forty,"  Mr.  Nesmith  was  chosen  President,  and  la- 
bored early  and  late  to  assure  the  building  of  a  transcontinental  railroad. 
In  1875  he  resigned  this  post  of  honor  upon  being  elected  a  Director 
of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  Company.  Mr.  Nesmith  presided  at 
the  great  railroad  meeting  held  here  in  1872,  under  the  auspices  of  Col. 
Thomas  A.  Scott,  when  Prof  Louis  Agassiz,  Senator  Sherman,  and 
other  distinguished  men  were  present.  He  was  one  of  the  founders 
and  the  first  President  of  the  San  Diego  Benevolent  Association,  an 
organization  that  has  done  and  continues  to  do  a  vast  amount  of  good. 

Mr.  Nesmith  married  Maria  Antoinette,  a  daughter  of  the  late  An- 
thony Rutgers  Gale,  of  Natchez,  Mississippi.  She  died  at  San  Diego,  in 
1873.  She  was  a  woman  of  rare  beauty,  and  most  highly  accom- 
plished. He  has  two  sons  and  a  daughter  living,  having  lost  one  son, 
Anthony  Rutgers  Nesmith,  who  died  in  Mexico,  in  1880.  Otto  A. 
Nesmith  is  a  lawyer  residing  in  Minnesota,  and  Loring  Gale  Nesmith 
is  cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  San  Jose.  His  daughter,  Hen- 
rietta, is  the  wife  of  Brig. -Gen.  A.  W.  Greely,  Chief  of  the  Signal 
Service  Bureau.  When  the  news  of  the  rescue  of  her  gallant  hus- 
band was  received  she  was  in  San  Diego,  visiting  her  father.  She  hur- 
ried across  the  continent  and  arrived  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire, 
just  in  time  to  welcome  him  upon  his  arrival  there. 

There  is  no  citizen  of  San  Diego  more  highly  esteemed  than  Mr. 
Nesmith,  and  his  kindly  face  and  courtly  manners  are  familiar  to  all. 
It  is  the  earnest  wish  of  those  who  know  him  that  he  may  yet  be 
spared  many  years  to  enjoy  the  contentment  that  follows  a  career  so 
honorable  and  ennobling  as  his  has  been. 

While  Mr.  Nesmith  has  fulfilled  well  his  duties  to  the  living,  he  has 
not  been  unmindful  of  those  who  have  gone  before.  He  has  placed 
three  memorial  windows  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  in  this  city,  in  memory 
of  his  family  who  are  deceased.  They  are  as  follows  One  to  his  wife, 
Maria  Antoinette  Nesmith,  "Christ  Blessing  Httle  Children ; "   one   to 


r 

BIO  CRAPinc  AL  SKI-. '/'(  If  US.  1 7  s 

his  son,  John  Wadsworth  Nesniith,  "Tlu-  Wist-  Men:"  om-  tii  hi.s  son, 
Anthony  Rutgers  Nesmith,  "The  Angel  at  the  T(Hnlj.'"  The  win- 
dows were  made  at  Munich,  in  Bavaria,  and  as  wcjrks  of  art  thcv  an- 
very  perfect. 


MRS    MARY  J.  BIRDSALL. 


When  the  advocates  of  female  suffrage  advance  arguments  in  sup- 
port of  their  cause  they  are  too  apt  to  appeal  to  sentiment,  and  to  over- 
look one  of  the  most  forcible  arguments.  That  is  the  ability  with 
which  women  direct  those  branches  of  business  that  are  popularly  sup- 
posed to  fall  within  the  special  province  of  men.  When  we  find  a 
woman  who  combines  executive  ability  with  attention  to  detail,  wh(. 
has  a  talent  for  direction  as  well  as  a  faculty  for  managing — who  is.  in 
fact,  a  thorough  woman  of  business,  the  most  ultra  opponent  of  equal 
rights  to  the  gentler  sex  is  apt  to  surrender  his  opinions.  When  we 
find  a  specimen  of  this  stronger  type  of  womanhood,  she  not  only 
excites  our  admiration  but  commands  our  respect.  We  admire  the 
gifts  with  which  nature  has  endowed  her,  and  respect  the  manner  in 
which  she  has  applied  them.  Among  that  body  of  able,  enterprising, 
and  progressive  pioneer  residents  that  gave  the  impetus  to  San  Diego's 
growth,  there  is  to  be  found  the  name  of  a  woman — Mrs.  Mary  J. 
Birdsall.  Coming  to  San  Diego  when  it  was  but  a  hamlet,  she  has 
Hvedto  see  it  advance  to  a  bustling,  commercial  city,  and  by  her  busi 
ness  prescience  she  has  been  enabled  to  participate  in  the  general  pros- 
perity that  has  attended  its  wonderful  growth. 

Mrs.  Birdsall  was  born  near  Jefferson  City,  Missouri,  but  was  raisetl 
in  Tennessee,  and  educated  at  the  Young  Ladies'  Model  School  in 
Summerville,  Tennessee.  She  graduated  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  and 
within  a  year  afterward  was  married.  About  twenty  years  ago  she 
came  to  California,  by  way  of  the  Isthmus,  and  for  two  years  lived  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  State.  Then,  in  1870,  she  came  to  San 
Diego.  At  that  time  what  is  now  the  city  of  San  Diego  contained  Init 
a  few  board  houses.  The  erection  of  the  Horton  House,  the  first 
brick  building,  had  just  been  commenced,  and  it  gave  little  promise 
of  the  great  future  before  it.  In  company  with  her  husband,  Mrs. 
Birdsall  started  the  Home  Restaurant  on  the  ground  where  the  Commer- 
cial Hotel  now  stands.  It  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Lyon  Restau- 
rant. In  1880-81  she  kept  a  hotel  known  as  the  Commercial,  situated 
below  the  Horton  House,  on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  Chad- 
bourne  Furniture  Company.  In  188 1  she  began  the  erection  of  the 
fine  house  at  present  occupied  and  managed  by  her.  the  Commerci.il 
Hotel,  on  the  corner  of  Seventh  and  I  Streets.     It  contains  one  hun- 


MRS.    M.  J.   BIRDSALL. 


176  CITY  AND  COCXTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

dred  and  fifteen  rooms,  and  is  admirably  arranged  for  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  designed.  It  is  strictly  a  temperance  house,  and  no  liquor 
has  ever  been  sold  in  it.  It  is  especially  popular  with  the  old  residents 
of  this,  section  of  the  State.  Being  cast  upon  her  own  resources,  Mrs. 
Birdsall  cultivated  her  natural  business  ability,  and  by  strict  attention 
to  her  duties  she  has  acquired  a  most  enviable  position  in  the  commu- 
nity. While  directing  her  hotel  in  an  admirable  manner  she  has,  by 
the  exercise  of  judicious  investments,  acquired  a  handsome  compe- 
tency. Besides  the  Commercial  Hotel  she  owns  considerable  city  real 
estate  and  county  property.  During  San  Diego's  darkest  days,  Mrs. 
Birdsall  never  lost  faith  in  the  future — her  confidence  in  the  city's  ulti- 
mate importance  was  unbounded. 

Mrs.  Birdsall  has  two  sons  and  one  daughter,  the  latter  being 
married.  One  son  is  attending  college,  and  one  resides  in  Arizona. 
Her  father  died  here  in  1880.  Mrs.  Birdsall  is  a  lady  of  retiring  dispo- 
sition, never  seeking  publicity.  She  is,  however,  very  charitable,  and 
has  contributed  liberally  to  all  good  objects. 


DR.   D.  CAVE. 


One  of  the  most  promising  signs  of  the  healthful  condition  and 
assured  permanency  of  the  Rephblic  is  the  deep  interest  manifested  in 
its  institutions  by  our  adopted  citizens.  Many  of  the  most  progressi\e 
members  of  the  body  politic  are  men  who  were  born  under  monarchial 
Governments.  When  transplanted  to  the  free  soil  of  America  they 
seem  to  imbibe  the  spirit  of  our  institutions  intuitively  and  become 
leaders  in  every  social  and  business  enterprise.  A  good  type  of  this 
class  of  citizens  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

Dr.  D.  Cave  was  born  in  Strasburg,  France,  in  1846.  When  a 
child  he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Vienna,  Austria.  At  the  age  ot 
twelve  he  began  work  in  mercantile  business,  in  which  he  continued 
till  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  Then,  having  a  taste  for  natural  science 
and  mechanical  work,  he  commenced  the  study  of  dentistry.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-three  he  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  and  con- 
tinued with  success  for  about  four  years,  when  a  bronchial  affection  which 
he  had  contracted  compelled  him  to  abandon  practice  and  he  began  to 
travel  for  his  health. 

He  visited  America  for  a  twofold  purpose — first,  in  search  of  health, 
and  secondly,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  cradle  of  scientific  dentistry, 
and  to  satisfy  his  desire  for  improving  himself  in  his  profession.  Ill 
health  compelled  him  to  cut  short  his  stay  in  the  principal  Eastern  cities, 
and  he  soon  started  for  the  Pacific  Coast.  Upon  arriving  in  San  Fran- 
cisco he  consulted  with  several  acquaintances  as  to  his  future  movements. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKRTCIIKS.  177 

They  advised  that  he  go  by  steamer  as  far  as  Los  Angeles,  as  it  was  a 
good  locaHty  for  business  and  an  excellent  climate  for  throat 
troubles.  They  also  told  him  that  San  Diego  had  a  good  climate,  but 
that  the  place  was  dead;  that  there  was  nothing  but  sand  hills  there,  and 
that  jackrabbits  fed  in  the  streets.  He  determined,  notwithstanding 
their  reports,  to  go  as  far  as  San  Diego,  and  then  if  he  did  not  like  it  he 


D    CAVE,  D    D    S. 

would  return  to  Los  Angeles  or  Santa  Barbara.  He  accordingly  i>ur- 
chased  a  ticket  for  San  Diego  and  left  on  the  steamer  Orizaba  on  the 
voyage  down  the  coast;  After  visiting  Santa  Barbara  and  Los  Ange- 
les, during  the  time  the  steamer  stopped  at  those  places,  he  landed  in 
San  Diego  on  the  14th  day  of  April,  1S72.  He  was  in  poor  health, 
hardly  able  to  speak  the  English  language,  without  friends,  and  his 
whole  capital  had  dwindled  down  to  one  solitary  twenty-dollar  gold 
piece.     He  went  to  the  Horton  House,  and  in  a  few  days  his  throat  be- 


lyS  CITY  AND  COlINrV  OF  SAX  niKGO. 

gan  to  improve,  and  his  voice,  which  had  been  lost  for  nearly  six  months, 
returned  like  magic.  He  determined  to  advertise  his  profession  ynd 
begin  work  at  the  hotel  with  what  few  instruments  he  had.  He  nut 
with  such  success  that  in  a  short  time  he  was  able  to  establish  himself  in 
the  business  part  of  the  town,  in  one  of  the  best  localities,  and  to  fur- 
nish his  offices  in  the  best  style.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  do  the  finest 
kind  of  work,  and  soon  gained  a  reputation  as  a  skilled  operator  that 
was  not  confined  to  the  limits  of  San  Diego.  He  is  the  only  dentist 
that  has  remained  here  through  all  the  ups  and  downs  of  the  com- 
munity for  fifteen  successive  years.  His  practice  has  steadily  increased 
until  he  retired  from  business  a  short  time  ago,  when  he  turned  ox'er  to 
his  successors  a  practice  of  over  one  thousand  dollars  cash  receipts  per 
month. 

Dr.  Cave  has  been  the  tutor  of  two  of  San  Diego's  young  men,  and 
so  high  was  his  reputation  that  they  were  granted  licenses  by  the  Cali- 
fornia Board  of  Dental  Examiners  without  attendance  at  any  college  of 
dentistry.  Both  now  have  a  lucrative  practice  of  their  own,  and 
have  gained  a  reputation  for  their  skill.  He  is  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  California  State  Dental  Association,  antl  also  of  the  South- 
ern California  Odentological  Society.  He  aided,  too,  in  organ- 
izing the  San  Diego  Dental  Society,  of  which  he  is  President.  Dr. 
Cave  has  not  confined  his  usefulness  to  his  profession,  however,  but  has 
been  prominent  in  all  mo\'ements  having  lor  their  object  the  advance- 
ment of  San  Diego.  To  him  belongs  the  credit  of  having  organized 
the  San  Diego  County  Immigration  Association,  in  the  latter  part  of 
1885.  He  was  President  of  the  Committee  of  Celebration  at  the  time  of 
the  completion  of  the  Atchison  system  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  via  San 
Diego.  He  served  a  term  as  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
in  1885,  and  while  occupying  that  position,  demonstrated  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  soil  of  San  Diego  for  raising  cereals,  fruit  trees,  jjlants, 
etc. ,  by  showing  what  had  been  produced  on  his  own  land.  He  was  at 
this  time,  ex-officio,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Pilot  Commissioners. 
He  has  been  President  of  the  San  Diego  Fire  Company  and  is  now  an 
exempt  member.  He  has  been  Chancellor  Commander  and  is  a  charter 
member  of  San  Diego  Lodge  No.  28,  Knights  of  Pythias;  and  Master 
of  San  Diego  Lodge  No.  35,  F.  and  A.  M.  He  is  now  President  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Free  Public  Library,  and  Vice-President  of 
the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  which  he  aided  in 
organizing.  He  is  a  Director  in  the  San  Diego  Building  and  Loan  As- 
sociation ;  Treasurer  of  the  Morena  Land  and  Town  Co. ;  a  member  of 
the  San  Diego  Horticultural  Association,  in  the  work  of  which  he  has 
taken  an  especial  interest;  a  member  of  the  San  Diego  Natural  History 
Society;  a  member  of  the  San  Diego  Bene\'olent  Association,  and,  in 
fact,  is  identified  with  about  every  public  organization  in  the  city. 


Ji  lOCRAI  'I  IK  AL  Sk  '/■:  7 '( If  US.  1 79 

Dr.  Cave  was  naturalized  in  I'SjJ,  and  has  always  hcen  an  eanust 
and  consistent  Republican.  He  has  taken  an  active  jjart  in  political 
affairs,  but  has  steadily  refused,  although  repeatedly  urged  t(j  do  so,  to 
be  a  candidate  for  any  political  position.  Hewas  married  in  San  Diego, 
June  19,  1878,  to  Miss  Rosa  Meyer,  a  nati\e (jf  France,  and  a  graduate 
of  a  high  school  in  Paris.  He  has  two  children.  He  is  the  largest 
stockholder  in  the  new  town  of  Morena,  and  contemplates  erecting  a 
fine  residence  there  the  coming  season. 


DR.  W.  A.  WINDER 


Few  residents  of  San  Diego  are  better  known  or  more  highly  re- 
spected than  Dr.  W.  A.  Winder.  A  \eteran  of  two  wars,  his  life  has 
been  an  adventurous  one.  He  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Md..  December 
5,  1824.  His  father  was  an  officer  in  the  regular  arm\-.  antl  the  greatt  r 
part  of  his  early  boyhood  was  passed  with  his  parents  at  the  different 
military  posts  between  North  Carolina  and  Maine.  Up  to  the  time  he 
was  nine  years  of  age  he  attended  school  in  North  Carolina,  and  then 
went  to  Baltimore,  where  he  continued  in  school  until  si.xteen  years  okl. 
Having  a  fondness  for  medicine  he  now  began  to  study  it,  and  fit  him- 
self for  practice.  He  attended  lectures  in  Philadelphia.  When  the 
Mexican  War  broke  out,  he  volunteered  his  serxices,  and  just  after  the 
battle  of  Buena  Vista  was  commissioned  a  Lieutenant  of  Artillery.  He 
served  during  the  rest  of  the  war  and  continued  in  the  service  for  eight- 
een years,  resigning  at  the  close  ot  the  Ci\  il  War.  Just  after  the  Mex- 
ican War,  in  1848,  he  was  sent  with  part  of  his  regiment  to  Florida, 
to  assist  in  quelling  the  outbreak  of  the  .Seminole  Indians,  and  he  re- 
mained there  thirteen  months. 

In  1854  he  sailed  from  New  York  with  his  regiment,  tin-  Tiiird  .Ar- 
tillery, for  California  on  board  the  ill-fated  steamship  Sail  I'rancisco. 
Thirty-six  hours  out  of  New  York,  when  in  the  Cnilf  stream,  the  ship  was 
caught  in  a  hurricane  and  disabled.  I''or  fourteen  days  she  drifted  about 
on  the  ocean  in  a  helpless  condition.  There  were  750  soldiers  and  thir- 
teen officers,  some  of  whom  had  their  families,  besides  a  number  ol 
civilian  passengers.  During  this  time  cholera  broke  out  on  board  and 
nearly  one  hundred  died  from  that  dread  disease.  Perhaps  the  most 
terrible  of  their  misfortunes  occurred  during  the  height  of  the  storm, 
when  an  immense  sea  struck  the  ship  and  carried  away  the  upper  saloon, 
on  which  were  crowded  over  two  hundred  soldiers.  Finally,  when 
hope  had  well-nigh  given  way  to  despair,  a  vessel  hove  insight,  and  in 
answer  to  their  signals  of  distress  replied  that  she  would  staml  by  them. 
The  following  day  the  sea  had  gone  down  sufiiciently  to  permit  the 
transfer  of  most  of  the  passengers  to  the  \e.ssel.  which  proved  to  be 


i8o 


C/TV  AND  COrXTV  OF  SAX  DIEGO. 


the  Scotch  b;irk  Three  Bells,  of  (ilasg^ow.  Another  vessel  also  came 
to  their  assistance,  and  all  were  rescued  before  the  doomed  steamer  sank 
beneath  the  \va\-es.  For  his  heroic  conduct  during'  those  dreadful  days 
of  trial  on  board  the  Sail  Fra)ieisco,  and  the  j)art  he  took  in  securing- 
the  safe  transfer  of  the  women  and  children  to  the  Three  Bells,  Lieu- 
tenant Winder  was  accorded  a  vote  of  thanks  by  the  Legislature  of  his 
nati\e  State,  Marylantl. 


i 


DR.   W.   A    WINDER. 

He  Started  again  witli  liis  regiment  for  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  was 
sent  with  a  detachment  to  the  Mission  San  Diego,  where  he  remained 
for  three  years,  during  which  time  he  made  ten  expeditions  among 
Cahuila  Indians,  li\'ing  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county.  At  times 
they  displayed  hostile  traits,  and  the  presence  of  the  troops  was  neces- 
sary to  prevent  an  outbreak.  He  was  then  stationed  at  Fort  Yuma  for 
a  year,  during  which  time  that  post  was  threatened  by  Indians.      During 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKIiTCIIIiS.  i8i 

the  War  of  the  Rebellion  he  served  about  six  months  in  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  commanding  B  ittery  G,  Third  Artillery,  and  then  was 
ordered  to  this  coast  and  placed  in  command  of  Alcatraz,  in  San  Fran- 
cisco harbor.  There  he  remained  three  and  a  half  years,  until  the  cl<jse 
of  the  war.  He  then  resigned  his  commission  and  entered  civil  life. 
Soon  after  this  he  engaged  in  a  mining  venture  below  Ensenada,  in 
Lower  California,  for  a  while,  and  afterwards  was  interested  in  a  mine 
at  Lyttle  Creek,  near  San  Bernardino.  He  then  went  to  Los  Angeles, 
where  he  remained  until  1872.  In  the  latter  year  he  came  to  San  Diego, 
where  he  has  made  his  home  ev%r  since.  He  has  practiced  medicine 
until  about  three  years  ago,  when  he  retired  from  acti\e  practice.  He 
now  has  charge  of  the  Marine  Relief  H()S])ital,  an  institution  which  he 
has  built  himself,  and  is  but  just  completed. 

Dr.  Winder  was  married  in  1850,  in  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire, 
to  the  daughter  of  Goxernor  Goodwin,  of  that  State.  He  has  one  son, 
who  is  now  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy  and  attached  to  the  United  States 
steamer  Marion.  Dr.  W^inder  is  the  owner  of  Winder's  Addition.  He 
is  a  liberal-spirited  citizen,  and  a  representative  man. 


JUDGE  M.  A.  LUCE. 

One  of  the  best-known  and  most  prominent  men  in  every  movement 
to  advance  the  best  interests  of  San  Diego,  is  Judge  M.  A.  Luce.  He 
comes  of  good  New  England  stock,  and  is  of  a  right  possessed  of  those 
attributes  which  are  strongly  characteristic  of  the  better  type  of  the  Amer- 
ican character, — energy,  ability,  and  probity.  His  father  is  a  native  of 
Maine,  is  a  preacher  in  the  Baptist  Church,  and  now,  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-eight years,  is  living  in  Poway  Valley,  a  hale  and  hearty  old  man. 
His  mother  was  born  in  New  Hampshire. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  sketch  first  saw  the  light  in  Ouincy,  Illinois, 
in  the  year  1842.  He  lived  with  his  parents  in  Central  Illinois  until  he 
was  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  left  home  \o  jirepare  for  college  at 
Hillsdale,  Mich.  Here  he  spent  a  part  of  each  year  in  adwincing  his 
own  education,  and  the  residue  of  the  time  in  educating  others,  that  is, 
in  teaching  school.  Thus  passed  nearly  four  years  of  his  boyhood. 
Then  came  that  eventful  April  day  in  1861  when  the  call  "to  arms"  re- 
sounded through  the  land.  The  response  that  came  forth  from  the 
loyal  North  was  something  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  mankind. 
The  ink  was  scarcely  dry  with  which  the  President's  proclamation  for 
volunteers  was  written  when  the  tramp  of  battalions  was  heard  through- 
out the  land.  From  no  section  of  the  North  was  the  patriotic  response 
more  immediate  and  hearty  than  from  the  great  States  of  the  West. 
Foremost  among  them  was  the  commonwealth  of  Michigan.  Young 
15 


l82 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


Luce,  brimming  over  with  loyalty,  dropped  his  school  books,  and  enlisted 
in  the  Fourth  Michigan  Volunteer  Infimtry.  During  the  war  he  took 
part  in  the  following  engagements:  Bull  Run,  New  Bridge,  Hanover, 
Court  House,  Mechanicsville,  Gaines  Mill,  Savage  Station,  Turkey 
Bend,  White  Oak  Swamp,  Malvern  Hill,  Second  Bull  Run,  U.  S.  Ford, 
Chancellorsville,   Kelly's  Ford,   Ashby  Gap,  Brandy  Station,   Middle 


JUDGE  M.  A.  LUCE. 

burg,  Gettysburg,  Williamsport,  Wapping  Heights,  Culpeper,  Bristol 
Station,  Rappahannock  Station,  Mine  Run,  Wilderness,  Laurel  Hill, 
Spottsylvania,  North  Anna,  Tolopotomy  Creek,  Jericho  Mills,  Bethseda 
Church,  Cold  Harbor,  and  Petersburg.  Was  wounded  slightly  at 
Spottsylvania,  while  with  the  forlorn  hope  in  the  assault  of  May  12. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Luce,  now  a  bronzed  young  \'eteran,  after 
paying  a  brief  visit  to  his  parents,  returned  to  Hillsdale  and  resumed 
his  collegiate  studies,  which  had  been  so  rudely  interrupted  four  years  be- 


I 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  183 

fore.  He  graduated  in  1866,  and  having  decided  to  devote  himself 
to  the  legal  profession,  attended  the  Law  University  at  Albany,  where  he 
graduated  a  year  later.  With  his  diploma  in  his  pocket  he  returned  to 
his  native  State,  and  began  practice  in  Bushnell,  of  which  he  was  the  first 
City  Attorney.  He  was  afterward  Attorney  of  the  F'irst  National  Bank 
of  Bushnell  and  local  Attorney  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  R. 
R.  Co. ,  and  in  1872  was  the  candidate  of  his  party  for  the  State  Senate. 
In  1873  the  first  of  Southern  California's  booms  began  to  be  heard  of 
In  these  days  it  would  be  called  a  very  small  boom,  a  kind  of  a  "  North- 
■ern  Citrus  Belt"  affair;  but  then  it  made  quite  a  stir,  not  only  on  the  Pa- 
cific Coast  but  was  felt  all  over  the  East.  That  was  the  time  when  Col. 
Tom  Scott  was  building  his  Texas  Pacific  (on  paper)  across  the  conti- 
nent, to  have  its  terminus  on  the  shores  of  San  Diego  Bay.  One  result 
of  this  agitation  was  to  direct  attention  to  the  harbor,  which  had  lain  neg- 
lected and  unthought  of  since  the  day  the  great  empire  of  California 
became  a  part  of  the  Republic.  Tidings  of  the  promising  future  of  this 
Pacific  Coast  city  came  to  Luce  in  his  Illinois  home,  and  as  at  that 
time  his  health  was  apparently  failing,  he  decided  to  emigrate.  He  ar- 
rived in  San  Diego  in  May,  1873,  and  immediately  opened  a  law  office, 
and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  the  fall  of  1S75 
he  was  elected  Judge  of  the  county  court,  and  held  the  office  until  the 
new  constitution  went  into  effect  and  terminated  the  jurisdiction  of  that 
court  in  1880.  Judge  Luce  took  an  active  part  in  the  movement  to 
bring  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  road  to  San  Diego,  and  was 
a  member  of,  and  acted  as  counsel  for,  the  Citizens'  Committee.  In  the 
fall  of  18.80  the  California  Southern  Railroad  Co.  was  organized  and  he 
-was  elected  Vice-President.  He  was  also  appointed  Attorney  of  the 
road  and  has  continued  so  up  to  the  present  time.  He  is  still  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Directors.  Judge  Luce's  law  practice  has  been  \ery 
large,  he  having  acted  as  Attorney  for  a  majority  of  the  heaviest  local 
corporations,  while  the  Pacific  Steamship  Co.  and  other  important  or- 
ganizations have  intrusted  their  legal  business  to  his  care.  Judge  Luce 
is  now  preparing  to  retire  from  the  active  practice  of  his  profession,  his 
private  business  interests  ha\ing  become  so  numerous  and  important  as 
to  require  his  entire  time  and  attention.  Ever  since  the  day  of  his  ar- 
rival in  San  Diego  Judge  Luce  has  had  an  abiding  faith  in  the  future  o\ 
the  city.  Firm  in  his  convictions  on  that  point  he  has  from  the  first,  as 
opportunity  offered,  invested  in  real  estate,  and  he  is  now  one  of  the 
heaviest  holders  of  real  property.  Unlike  some  other  men  of  like  busi- 
ness instincts  the  aggregation  of  property  has  not  ser\ed  to  lessen  his 
interest  in  the  growth  of  the  city,  but  he  is  to-day  as  keenly  ali\e  to 
everything  that  tends  to  develop  and  enlarge  its  importance  as  he  was 
ten  years  ago.  He  has  been  identified  with  every  public  improvement, 
and  is  willing  at  all  times  to  give  freely  of  his  means  towards  the  ma- 


1 84  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

terial  advancement  of  San  Diego.  He  has  been  interested  in  the  min- 
ing development,  of  the  county,  and  is  a  principal  shareholder  in  the 
Shenandoah  mine  at  Mesa  Grande,  m  this  county.  He  is  oi  the  opinion 
that  the  future  wealth  and  importance  of  San  Diego  will  be  largely  due 
to  the  de\elopment  ot  its  mines.  In  the  past  profitable  operations  have 
been  retarde(f  by  the  crude  machinery  employed  in  working  the  ore  and 
insufficient  means  of  transportation.  With  the  completion  of  a  railroad 
to  the  mining  center,  and  the  introduction  of  new  and  approved  ma- 
chinery, all  this  will  be  changed,  however. 

Judge  Luce  is  one  of  the  executors  of  the  trust  of  the  late  James  M. 
Pierce,  donating  $150,000  to  the  establishment  of  the  Boys'  and  Girls' 
Aid  S  ociety.  He  has  been  President  of  the  Unitarian  Church  Society 
ever  since  its  organization.  In  December,  1870,  he  was  married,  at 
Bushnell,  to  Miss  Adelaide  Mantania,  of  Avon,  Illinois,  who  was  at  the 
time  Assistant  Princii)al  of  the  public  schools  at  Bushnell,  Illinois.  Unit- 
ing personal  attractions  and  all  the  female  accomplishments  to  a  richly 
stored  mind,  Mrs.  Luce  has  proven  a  worthy  helpmate  to  her  husband 
in  the  battle  of  life.  Six  children  have  blessed  their  union,  of  which 
four,  two  boys  and  two  girls,  are  living;  two  have  died,  and  are  buried 
in  the  cemetery  here. 

Judge  Luce  is  six  leet  in  height,  slight  figure,  and  a  face  that  has 
more  the  look  of  a  student  than  a  professional  man,  or  one  immersed  in 
business.  He  has  a  strong  taste  for  literature,  and  possesses  a  well-ap- 
pointed library.  Now  that  he  is  getting  rid  of  some  of  his  professional 
cares  he  will  probably  find  solace  from  the  demands  of  business  in  the 
society  of  his  books. 


GEORGE   A.  COWLES. 


George  A.  Cowles,  who  died  last  fall  at  the  Florence  Hotel,  in 
this  city,  was  one  of  the  thoroughly  representative  men  of  San  Diego 
County.  Mr.  Cowles  was  born  in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  Aprils,  1836. 
His  early  days  were  spent  upon  a  farm  near  Hartford.  His  father  was 
engaged  in  manufacturing,  and  was  the  first  man  to  make  broadcloth 
in  this  country.  When  he  was  fourteen  years  old  he  entered  the  dry 
goods  store  of  B.  &  W.  Hudson,  in  Hartford,  as  errand  boy.  Five 
years  later  he  had  become  first  salesman  of  the  establishment.  During 
these  years,  however,  he  had  not  neglected  his  education,  but  attended 
night  school  faithfully,  and  took  a  course  in  the  Commercial  College. 
He  remained  with  the  Hudsons  until  he  was  twenty -one,  and  then 
engaged  in  the  business  of  manufacturing  cotton  goods,  on  his  own 
account.  He  was  burned  out,  however,  soon  after\\-ard.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-five  we  find  him  in  the  city  of  New  York,  carrying  on  a  com- 


BIO  GRAPHICAL  SKE  TCI//-S. 


!8: 


mission  business  and  holding  an  interest  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton 
g^oods  at  several  places.  When  thirty  years  of  age  he  was  elected 
President  of  the  New  York  Cotton  Goods  Exchange.  He  retired  from 
the  cotton  business  in  1S69,  and  in  1872  became  interested  in  Govern- 
ment contracts,  in  Mhich  he  continued  for  three  years.  For  se\'eral 
winters  he  visited  this  coast  on  account  of  his  wife's  health,  and  one 


GEORGE  A.  COWLES. 

Avinter  he  spent  in  Florida.  This  was  unfortunate  for  him,  as  he  con- 
tracted malarial  fever,  which  nearly  broke  him  down.  He  first  came  to 
San  Diego  in  1873.  He  had  journeyed  between  this  city  and  San 
Francisco  a  number  of  times  by  stage  and  by  prixate  con\eyance, 
stopping  in  the  dit^erent  valleys  and  making  himself  familiar  with  the 
various  localities.  In  1S77  he  concluded  to  locate  in  San  Diego  County 
permanentlv.  At  that  time  the  outlook  for  communication  with  the 
outside  world  was  \ery  poor.      Mr.  Cowles.  howe\er,  had  strong  laith 


1 86  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEG  O. 

in  the  natural  resources  of  the  county,  and  beUeved  firmly  in  the  future 
com  mercial  importance  of  the  city  of  San  Diego. 

Having  decided  to  make  this  his  home  he  went,  in  the  spring  of 
1878,  to  El  Cajon  and  began  farming  operations.  He  then  owned 
between  six  and  seven  hundred  acres  of  land  in  the  heart  of  the  valley, 
but  he  acquired  more,  from  time  to  time,  until  he  had  between  three 
and  four  thousand  acres.  The  first  year  he  planted  about  everything 
in  the  shape  of  tree  and  vine,  in  order  to  test  what  could  be  grown  to  the 
best  advantage.  When  his  grapes  matured  he  found  that  the  finest  Mus- 
cats could  be  grown  in  El  Cajon  that  were  to  be  found  in  the  State,  and 
when  his  olive  trees  began  to  bear,  the  fruit  rivaled  any  that  he  had 
ever  seen.  He  therefore  decided  to  devote  himself  especially  to  these 
two  products.  The  result  proved  the  wisdom  of  his  choice,  for  to-day 
the  raisins  produced  on  the  Cowles  Ranch  are  sent  all  over  the  United 
States,  and  they  are  without  doubt  superior  to  any  grown  either  in  this 
country  or  Europe.  In  one  of  his  vineyards  Mr.  Cowles  raised  the 
largest  quantity  of  Muscat  grapes  on  record  on  one  acre.  This  season 
there  were  shipped  from  eight  to  ten  thousand  boxes  of  raisins  from  this 
vineyard,  which  is  but  five  years  old.  It  is  situated  in  the  center  of  the 
valley.  Besides  grapes,  and  olives,  and  other  fruits,  there  are  about 
one  thousand  acres  in  grain,  while  the  ranch  is  stocked  with  one  hun- 
dred head  of  fine  horses,  and  about  three  hundred  head  of  choice, 
graded  cattle. 

It  is  conceded  that  in  placing  upon  the  market  the  finest  raisins 
grown  on  American  soil,  Mr.  Cowles  perhaps  did  more  than  any  one 
man  in  directing  attention  to  the  wonderful  fertility  and  productiveness 
of  San  Diego  soil.  By  his  individual  efiforts  in  another  direction,  he 
finally  accomplished  a  task  that  will  result  in  untold  benefit  to  the  Cajon  ' 
Valley.  Reference  is  made  to  the  extension  of  the  Atchison  system 
from  San  Diego  into  the  valley.  He  personally  guaranteed  to  the  Chief 
Engineer  of  the  company  the  free  right  of  way  from  Twenty-second 
Street  Station  in  San  Diego  to  the  north  end  of  the  Cajon  Valley.  This 
ofifer  was  accepted,  and  the  road  is  now  well  under  way,  and  will  be 
completed  in  a  short  time.  From  the  Cajon  the  line  will  be  extended 
to  Poway,  Bernardo,  Escondido,  San  Marcos,  and  Oceanside,  connect- 
ing at  the  latter  point  with  the  California  Southern.  In  this  under- 
taking Mr.  Cowles  gave  another  evidence  of  his  indomitable  push  and 
energy — the  same  qualities  that  made  him  successful  as  a  merchant. 
Indeed,  his  great  success  as  an  agriculturist  was  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  he  always  conducted  his  farm  matters  on  strict  business  principles. 
He  was  as  much  in  earnest  in  curing  raisins  as  he  formerly  was  in  manu- 
facturing cotton  goods. 

Mr.  Cowles  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Consolidated  National 
Bank,  and  continued  a   Director  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.      He  was 


Bh ^GRAPHICAL  SKK TL UES.  1 87 

also  a  Director  in  the  old  Commercial  Bank,  and  was  Vice-President  of 
the  San  Diego  County  Savings  Bank.  He  was  the  organizer  of  the 
San  Diego  Marine  Ways  and  Dry  Dock  Company,  of  which  he  was 
Vice-President,  haxing  declined  to  accejit  the  Presidency.  He  raised  a 
subscription  of  $50,000  in  six  and  one-half  hours  for  this  enterpri-se. 
He  was  a  Director  in  the  C.ilifornia  Southern  Railway  Company, 
and  such  confidence  had  the  railroad  people  in  his  judgment  that  they 
left  the  direction  of  the  construction  of  the  Cajon  branch  entirely  to 
him.  He  was  married  in  1861  to  the  second  daughter  of  Hon.  Ros- 
well  Blodgett,  of  Hartford,  a  gentleman  who  has  done  as  much  for  the 
advancement  of  educational  interests  in  Connecticut  iis  any  other  man. 
Mr.  Cowles  demonstrated,  in  a  practical  way,  that  San  Diego  had 
something  more  to  boast  of  than  bay  and  climate,  and  the  work  that 
he  did  for  the  advancement  of  the  county  will  be  more  and  more  appre- 
ciated as  the  years  roll  by. 


DR.  P.  C.    REMONDINO. 


Few  citizens  of  San  Diego  have  had  a  career  more  replete  with 
incidents  than  Dr.  P.  C.  Remondino.  Born  m  Turin,  Italy,  on  the 
loth  of  February,  1846,  he  was  sent  as  a  child  to  a  Catholic  semi- 
nary, where  he  remained  until  nine  years  of  age.  In  1854  he  left  Italy 
with  his  father,  and  crossing  the  Atlantic  landed  in  New  York  City. 
From  the  latter  city  father  and  son  journeyed  westward  until  they  came 
to  Minnesota.  At  Wabeshaw,  a  thriving  town  in  that  State,  the  father 
engaged  in  mercantile  business,  and  young  Remondino  attended  the 
public  schools.  At  sixteen  years  of  age  he  entered  Jefferson  College, 
at  Philadelphia,  and  began  the  study  of  his  chosen  profession,  med- 
icine. During  the  summer  of  1864,  while  still  attending  college,  the 
Battle  of  the  Wilderness  occurred,  and  there  was  such  a  call  for  army 
surgeons  that  Remondino,  with  several  other  students,  volunteered  his 
services.  They  were  accepted,  and  for  some  time  he  continued  doing 
hospital  duty  at  Annapolis  and  City  Point.  In  March.  1S65,  he  gradu- 
ated at  Jefferson  College.  The  very  e\ening  of  his  graduation  he 
left  the  reception  party  tendered  his  class,  for  Fortress  Monroe.  ha\ing 
received  his  commission  as  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  attached  to  the 
Third  Pennsylvania  Hea\'y  Artillery.  He  served  in  that  capacity  up  to 
the  time  the  regiment  was  mustered  out  in  November,  1865.  He  then 
returned  to  Minnesota,  and  entered  upon  the  jiractice  of  his  pro- 
fession with  his  former  preceptor.  Dr.  Milligan.  At  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Franco-German  war  Dr.  Remondino  was  enjo\-ing  a  lucrative 
practice  in  his  adopted  town,  but  his  fondness  for  adventure,  and  desire 
to  become  skilled  in  his  profession,  induced  him  to  seek  employment  in 


1 88 


CITY  A.\D  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


the  French  service.  Accorduigly,  being  pro\ided  with  flattering  cre- 
dentials, both  from  the  Governor  of  the  State  and  from  officials  in 
Washington,  he  sailed  for  Brest.  He  arri\-ed  in  safety  and  at  once 
started  for  Tours,  which  was  then  the  seat  of  government.  Here  he 
presented  his  credenti;ils  and  was  cordially  received  by  Leon  Gani- 
betta,  who  provided  for  his  appointment  as  an  army  surgeon.     He  was 


DR.  P.   C.  REMONDINO. 

attached  to  a  regiment  just  formed,  called  "Franc  Tireurs  du  Nord," 
Colonel  Rondeau>  Commander,  which  was  recruited  in  the  French 
departments  bordering  on  Belgium.  He  served  with  this  regiment  dur- 
ing the  campaign  in  the  north  of  France  against  the  First  Prussian 
Army  Corps  under  the  command  of  General  Manteufel,  until  the  dis- 
solution of  all  the  volunteer  corps  in  the  French  army.  He  was  then 
detailed  for  ser\ace  with  the  Artillery  Legion  of  Havre,  and  was  Post 
Surgeon   of  Fort  Saint  Adresse,   the  principal  fort  on   the  heights  of 


I 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKJilClIES.  189 

Havre,  overlooking  both  the  city  and  harbor.  He  remained  there 
until  peace  was  concluded.  After  the  discharj^e  of  the  troops,  Dr. 
Remondino  traveled  through  Italy  and  Switzerland,  for  pleasure  and 
instruction,  and  afterwards  extended  his  journeyings  to  England.  He 
then  returned  to  Minnesota  and  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession 
in  1 87 1. 

The  winter  of  1871-72  was  an  unusually  severe  one  in  Minnesota, 
and  his  health,  which  had  been  somewhat  undermined  because  of  the 
exposure  he  had  undergone  in  the  French  service,  warned  him  that  he 
should  seek  a  more  genial  climate.  He  accordingly  started  for  San 
Diego,  reaching  California  in  December,  1873,  and  arriving  here  in  Jan- 
uary following.  He  had  intended  engaging  in  the  cattle  business,  but 
on  looking  the  ground  over  the  prospects  did  not  strike  him  favorablv, 
and  meeting  an  old  classmate,  Dr.  R.  J.  Gregg,  he  opened  an  office 
adjoining  his,  and  once  more  settled  down  to  active  practice.  He  was 
City  Physician  in  1875-76;  County  Physician  for  se\eral  consecutive 
terms;  Surgeon  for  the  California  Southern  Railroad  Company  up  to 
the  time  of  his  retirement  {fo\-a  practice;  Surgeon  of  the  Marine  Hos- 
pital, and  did  all  the  surgical  work  for  the  Pacific  Coast  Steamship 
Company.  In  1879  he  built  a  large  hospital  here  in  conjunction  with 
Dr.  T.  C.  Stockton.  They  had  accommodations  for  fifty  patients,  but 
owing  to  the  light  charges  of  charitable  institutions  they  iound  it  impos- 
sible to  compete  with  them  and  the  experiment  was  abandoned.  In  the 
spring  of  1887,  finding  that  his  private  business  affairs  were  interfering 
with  his  professional  duties,  he  retired  from  the  active  practice  of  his 
profession.  Recognizing  the  great  want  of  hotel  accommodations  in 
San  Diego  he  built  the  St.  James  Hotel,  which  was  opened  for  business 
in  February,  1886.  Since  that  time  it  has  received  some  additions,  and 
the  entire  cost  will  aggregate  $250,000.  Besides  this  fine  building  he 
owns  considerable  real  estate  in  the  city  and  county,  and  has  invested 
liberally  in  every  enterprise  that  he  beliexed  tended  to  advance  the 
material  interests  of  San  Diego.  Dr.  Remondino  returned  in  October 
from  an  extended  Eastern  tour,  during  which  he  attended,  as  a  delegate, 
the  International  Medical  Congress,  at  Washington,  where  he  took  a 
leading  part  in  the  proceedings,  and  read  a  paper  on  San  Diego's  cli- 
mate, which  attracted  wide  attention. 

Dr.  Remondino  is  Major  and  Surgeon  of  the  Third  Regiment  Uni- 
formed Rank  Knights  of  Pythias  of  the  State  of  California;  a  member 
of  the  Blue  Lodge  of  Masons,  San  Diego  Lodge;  andamember  of  Cali- 
fornia Consistory  F.  and  A.  M.,  Thirty-third  degree.  He  was  United 
States  Pension  Surgeon  for  nine  years,  up  to  last  year.  Although 
retired'  from  practice  as  an  active  member  of  the  San  Diego  County 
Medical  Society,  he  still  takes  an  active  interest  in  everything  pertaining 
to  its  prosperity.      He  was  married,  in    1877,  to  Miss  Sophie  Earle.  in 


igo  CITY  AND  CO  UNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

San  Diego,  and  has  four  children,  two  girls  and  two  boys,  all  living- 
here.  He  is  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most  public-spirited  and 
progressive  citizens  in  a  community  where  push  and  enterprise  are  the 
eading  elements  of  j^opularity. 


N.   H.  CONKLIN. 


One  of  the  leading  members  of  the  San  Diego  Bar  is  N.  H. 
Conklin.  Although  yet  a  comparatively  young  man,  his  life  has  been 
a  busy  one.  In  turn  a  soldier,  journalist,  and  lawyer,  he  has  achieved 
prominence  in  every  profession  with  which  his  fortunes  have  been 
identified.  Mr.  Conklin  was  born  in  Wyoming  County,  Pennsylvania, 
June  6,  1839.  His  father,  a  native  of  New  York,  was  a  member  of  the 
famous  Conklin  family,  whose  members  have  added  luster  to  the 
annals  of  jurisprudence  and  occupy  a  high  place  on  the  roll  of  forensic 
fame.  His  mother  came  from  the  State  of  Connecticut.  His  boyhood 
was  passed  with  his  parents  in  the  town  of  ^Tunkhannock,  on  the  Sus- 
quehanna, where  he  acquired  such  an  education  as  was  to  be  had  in  the 
public  schools.  In  1859  he  began  the  study  of  the  law  in  the  office  of 
Judge  Peckham,  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  was  stil 
immersed  in  his  studies  at  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  war. 
Those  who  are  not  yet  arrived  at  middle  age  have  little  idea  of  the 
scenes  that  followed  the  firing  upon  Sumter, — the  ebullitions  of  patriotic 
ferv^or,  the  mustering  to  arms,  the  hurried  march  to  the  field.  Through- 
out the  loyal  States  the  response  to  President  Lincoln's  proclamation 
for  troops  was  instantaneous — there  w-as  no  hesitating  then.  Young 
Conklin  heard  the  summons,  and  throwing  aside  his  law  books,  began 
raising  a  company  of  volunteers.  Within  less  than  a  week  from  the 
time  of  the  issuing  of  the  proclamation,  his  company  was  full  and  he 
made  a  tender  of  it  to  the  Governor.  But  the  quota  of  the  State  was 
filled  and  the  offer  was  declined.  The  Government  and  many  of  the 
people  then  beUeved  with  Senator  Seward  that  the  whole  "affair" 
would  be  over  in  ninety  days.  Suffering  under  his  disappointment,, 
young  Conklin  went  to  Cincinnati  to  visit  some  friends.  He  could  not, 
however,  resist  the  impulse  to  gi\-e  his  services  to  his  country,  and 
within  a  week  after  his  proffer  had  been  rejected  by  the  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  he  enlisted  in  Cincinnati  in  Company  D,  Second  Ken- 
tucky Volunteers.  He  had  been  walking  along  the  street  when  the 
beating  of  a  drum  again  roused  the  fires  of  patriotism  within  his  breast; 
he  went  upstairs,  where  a  war  meeting  was  being  held,  and  enlisted  as  a 
private,  not  knowing  at  the  time  what  the  regiment  was  or  where  it  was 
going;  he  only  knew  that  his  country  needed  his  services,  and  right 
freely  he  proffered  them.      He  was  sent  with  his  regiment  to  the  Kan- 


BIO  GRAPHICAL  SKE  TCHES 


191 


awa,  in  Western  Virginia,  and  remained  there  until  the  spring  of  1862. 
His  regiment  was  then  ordered  to  Kentucky,  and  then  into  Tennessee. 
He  participated  in  the  terriljle  battle  of  ShiUjh,  and  was  at  the  siege  of 
Corinth.  He  then  went  back  to  Kentucky,  and  was  in  that  State  at  the 
time  of  Bragg' s  raid.  At  Louisville  he  was  discharged  for  promotion, 
having  been  commissioned  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Eighty-third  Ohio. 


N.  H.  CONKLIN. 

When  he  reached  Cincinnati,  he  found  that  his  regiment  hail  l-)een  or- 
dered into  the  field.  This  was  in  November,  1862.  He  then  returned 
to  his  home  in  Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained  until  the  following 
spring,  reading  the  neglected  law  books.  But  he  could  not  be  content 
in  such  a  peaceful  avocation,  and  having  a  strong  taste  tor  the  navy,  he 
applied  for  and  was  appointed  Master's  Mate.  He  was  immediately 
ordered  to  report  on  board  the  Kcmvood,  attached  to  the  Mississipjn 
squadron.      He  took  part  in  the  siege  of  \'icksburg.  and   saw  much 


192  CITY  AND  CO  I NTY  OF  SAN  DIEG  O. 

active  service  while  on  the  Ktincood,  which  was  one  of  the  fastest 
steamers  on  the  river  and  was  generally  used  as  a  dispatch  boat.  In 
the  spring-  of  1865  he  was  ordered  to  the  Chilicathe,  an  iron-clad.  As 
soon  as  he  was  mustered  out  of  service  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he 
again  returned  to  Pennsylvania  and  once  more  renewed  his  law  studies. 
He  had  two  brothers  in  the  Union  army,  both  of  whom  are  now  living, 
one  residing  in  Northern  California  and  one  in  Missouri. 

As  soon  as  he  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar,  he  started  west  and 
located  at  Warrensburg,  Missouri,  where  he  began  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  He  remained  at  Warrensburg  until  the  fall  of  1S74. 
During  this  time  he  was  engaged  in  publishing  ih.e  Jo/uiston  Democrat, 
a  weekly  newspaper.  In  October,  1874,  Mr.  Conklin  started  for  vSan 
Diego.  Upon  his  arrival  here,  he  assumed  editorial  control  of  the  San 
Diego  Woj'ld,  a  daily,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Julian,  at  present  one  of 
the  proprietors  of  the  San  Diegan.  In  1877  he  was  elected  District 
Attorney  of  the  county,  and  held  the  office  two  years.  Since  then  he 
has  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law.  Mr.  Conklin  has  the 
largest  general  law  practice  of  any  attorney  in  San  Diego.  He  is  the 
legal  adviser  of  most  of  the  large  corporations  here;  is  a  stockholder 
in  and  attorney  for  the  San  Diego  and  Cuyamaca  Railroad  Co.,  and  is 
one  of  the  principal  stockholders  of  the  Mission  Valley  Water  Co. 
He  is  a  Past  Post  Commander  of  Heintzleman  Post  G.  A.  R.,  and  is 
at  present  Commander  of  San  Diego  Commandery  Knight  Templars. 
He  was  instrumental  in  bringing  the  railroad  here  and  has  been  inter- 
ested in  all  public  improvements.  He  has  a  handsome  residence  lately 
completed  in  Florence  Heights,  on  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Ivy  Streets. 

Mr.  Conklin  was  married  in  1867,  to  Miss  Myra  J.  Reese,  of 
Warrensburg,  Missouri,  in  Pleasant  Hill,  a  short  distance  from  the 
former  place.  Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  eight  children,  three 
of  whom  are  living-. 


R.  A.  THOMAS. 


In  considering  the  phenomenal  progress  that  has  attended  San 
Diego  during  the  past  two  or  three  years,  the  most  important  factor  in 
her  development  will  be  found  to  have  been  the  class  of  business  men 
who  have  invested  their  capital  in  the  A-arious  enterprises  that  ha\'e 
lifted  her  from  a  quiet  town  into  a  bustling,  thriving  city.  It  is  to  the 
progressive  spirit  of  these  citizens  that  she  is  indebted  for  the  handsome 
buildings  that  are  ornamenting  her  streets,  and  the  motor  lines  that 
make  rapid  communication  with  her  charming  suburbs  a  pleasure. 
They  are,  as  a  rule,  men  who  have  come  from  the  young  States  of  the 
West,  and  they  have  brought  with  them  the  ^•igorous  spirit,  the  prompt 


BIO  GRAPHIC  A  L  SKE  TCHIiS. 


193 


and  accurate  judgment  that  seem  characteristic  of  that  portion  of  the 
Union.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  an  excellent  tvpe  of  this  class  of 
San  Diego's  citizens. 

R.  A.  Thomas  was  born  in  Waukesha  County,  Wisconsin,  July 
10,  1847.  His  early  boyhood  was  spent  on  his  father's  Jann  in  Fon  du 
Lac  County.      The   first   rudiments   of  education   he  acquired   in    the 


R.  A.  THOMAS. 

district  school.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  entered  the  high  schooi  in 
the  city  of  Fon  du  Lac,  and  remained  there  four  years.  After  this  he 
went  to  Kansas  and  taught  school  for  about  three  years  in  Atchison. 
For  two  years  following,  he  was  engaged  in  a  Go\ernment  sur\-ey  in 
Western  Kansas,  and  after  that  he  went  into  the  lumber  business  in 
Atchison  County.  In  1876  he  went  to  New  Mexico  and  engaged  in 
the  raising  of  cattle.  This,  however,  was  not  to  his  liking  and  he 
returned  to  Kansas  and  went  to  dealing  in  lumber  and  hardware  in 


194  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

Onaga.  A  year  afterward  he,  in  compaii}^  with  his  brothers,  opened  a 
private  bank  known  as  Thomas  Brothers'  Bank.  In  1882,  contemplat- 
ing a  change,  they  turned  their  thoughts  to  San  Diego,  and  Mr.  R.  A. 
Thomas  came  hither  to  "spy  out  the  land."  Although  the  San  Diego 
of  that  day  was  not  apparently  a  very  promising  place  for  the  invest- 
ment of  capital,  yet  Mr.  Thomas'  keen  judgment  foresaw  the  future 
possibilities  and  he  decided  upon  locating  here.  He  accordingly  wrote 
to  his  brothers  to  close  up  their  business  in  Kansas  and  come  out  here. 

In  the  following  year  they  arrived  here,  and  in  June  purchased 
the  ground  on  which  the  First  National  Bank  now  stands,  and  organ- 
ized and  opened  a  bank  there.  Since  that  time  Mr.  Thomas  has  been 
one  of  the  most  active  and  public-spirited  of  San  Diego's  citizens 
He  has  been  the  leading  spirit  in  most  of  the  important  enterprises 
that  have  been  organized  here.  He  was  one  of  the  original  incorpo- 
rators ot  the  San  Diego  Street  Railroad  Co.,  of  the  San  Diego  and  Cor- 
onado  Ferry  Co.,  of  the  San  Diego  Lumber  Co.,  of  the  West  Coast  Lum- 
ber Co. ,  and  of  the  San  Diego  and  Old  Town  Railroad  Co.  He  has 
also  been  largely  interested  in  a  great  many  land  companies,  including 
Escondido  Land  Co.,  the  San  Marcos  Land  Co. ,  the  Cottage  Hill  Land 
Association,  and  the  Pacific  Beach  Co.  He  still  owns  stock  in  these 
corporations,  but  has  dropped  out  of  the  management,  and  now  devotes 
himself  exclusively  to  his  duties  as  President  of  the  First  National  Bank. 
He  held  the  position  of  cashier  of  that  institution  until  last  June,  when 
he  was  elected  President. 

In  a  short  time  he  will  erect  a  six-story  brick  building  in 
connection  with  Mr.  I.  A.  Sheriff,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Fifth 
and  E  Streets,  which  will  cover  one  hundred  feet  square.  This  will  be 
one  of  the  finest  buildings  in  the  city  and  will  cost  not  less  than 
$120,000.  He  will  also  erect  another  building  in  connection  with 
O.  S.  Hubbell,  a  five  or  six-story  brick,  covering  125x100,  that  will 
cost  about  ^150,000,  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  D  Streets. 

Mr.  Thomas  was  married  in  March,  1875,  to  Miss  Mary  Beven,  of 
Atchison,  Kansas.      He  has  two  children,  both  daughters. 


JUDGE  JOHN    D.  WORKS. 

A  SON  of  Indiana  who  has  won  for  himself  a  proud  position  in  the 
young  metropolis  of  the  Pacific  Coast  is  Judge  John  D.  Works.  He 
was  born  in  Ohio  County  in  that  State,  in  the  year  1847.  His  father 
was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  had  for  many  years  practiced  in  Ohio 
and  Switzerland  Counties.  Young  Works  lived  on  a  farm  till  he  was 
seventeen  years  of  age,  availing  himself  of  such  educational  advan- 
tages as  were  afforded  by  the  district  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  In 
the  spring  of  1861   came  the  attack  upon  Sumter,  the  call  for  volun- 


BIO  G  RA  PHICA  L  SKE  TCHES. 


195 


teers,  and  the  mustering  of  troops.  Like  the  other  Western  States, 
Indiana  sent  regiment  after  regiment  to  the  front,  and  her  troops  were 
seen  on  every  battle-field  from  Donelson  to  Vicksburg  and  from  Atlanta 
to  Savannah.  The  fire  of  patriotism  in  those  stirring  days  burned  not 
only  in  the  bosoms  of  men  of  mature  years,  but  it  stirred  the  youth  of  the 
countrv;    they    left  their  tasks  unfinished,    their    farm-work   undone. 


JUDGE  JOHN  D.  WORKS. 

John  Works  felt  the  infection  that  was  in  the  air  and  longed  to  shoul- 
der a  musket  and  march  to  the  war.  But  he  was  yet  too  tender  in 
years  to  be  mustered  by  the  recruiting  sergeant,  and  he  had  to  curb  his 
longing  for  military  service.  Finally,  however,  when  he  had  reached 
the  age  of  seventeen,  he  enlisted  in  the  Tenth  Indiana  Cavalry,  and  from 
that  time  on  until  the  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  in  active  ser\ice. 
He  was  most  of  the  time  with  his  regiment  attached  to  the  Aniiy  ot  the 
Cumberland.     He  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Nashville,  in  December, 


196  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

1S64,  when  Hood,  who  had  raised  a  hew  army  in  northern  Alabama, 
and  penetrated  into  middle  Tennessee,  was  signally  defeated  by  Gen- 
eral Thomas.  Immediately  after  this,  Works  went  with  his  regiment 
down  the  river  to  New  Orleans,  and  thence  across  to  Mobile,  where  he 
participated  in  the  siege  of  that  place.  During  most  of  this  time  he 
w^as  engaged  in  outpost  and  scout  duty. 

When  the  city  capitulated  to  the  Union  forces  under  General 
Canby,  his  regiment  rode  across  the  country  from  Mobile  to  Vicksburg, 
a  distance  of  one  thousand  six  hundred  miles.  The  bridges  had  all 
been  destroyed  and  the  country  pretty  well  laid  waste  by  General  Wil- 
son on  his  last  raid,  and  Works  and  his  fellow-troopers  had  to  do  some 
pretty  lively  foraging  to  get  enough  feed  for  their  horses  and  themselves, 
as  their  rations  were  very  short.  After  being  mustered  out  he  returned 
home,  and  for  a  time  attended  school,  but  he  had  decided  to  become  a 
lawyer,  and  he  was  soon  devoting  all  his  energies  to  the  study  of  his 
chosen  profession  in  the  office  of  Hon.  A.  C.  Downey,  formerly  one  of 
the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Indiana.  As  soon  as  he  was  ad- 
mitted, he  began  the  active  practice  of  his  profession  without  inter- 
mission, except  that  he  served  one  tferni  as  a  member  of  the  State 
Legislature  in  1879,  until  1883,  when  he  came  to  San  Diego.  Here  he 
opened  an  oifice  and  began  practice.  He  ser\-ed  one  term  as  City 
Attorney,  and  in  October,  1886,  was  appointed  by  Governor  Stoneman  to 
the  Superior  bench  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of 
Judge  W.  T.  McNealy.  At  the  general  election.  Judge  Works  w-as 
nominated  for  the  unexpired  term  .of  Judge  McNealy,  and  elected 
without  opposition.  In  September  of  the  last  year,  owing  to  the 
laborious  duties  of  the  position,  and  the  inadequate  compensation 
allowed  by  law,  Judge  Works  tendered  his  resignation  to  the  Gov- 
ernor and  was  succeeded  by  Hon.  Edwin  Parker.  He  then  at  once 
formed  a  partnership  with  ex-Congressman  Olin  Wellborn  and  John 
R.  Jones,  and  is  now  engaged  in  the  active  practice  of  his  profession. 

If  anything  was  wanting  to  show  the  high  opinion  entertained  of 
Judge  Works  by  his  legal  associates,  it  could  be  found  in  the  resolu- 
tions adopted  by  the  members  of  the  bar,  on  the  occasion  of  his  retire- 
ment from  the  bench.  During  nearly  all  the  time  that  Judge  Works 
has  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  while  he  was 
discharging  the  arduous  duties  of  a  judicial  ofiice,  he  has  found  time  to 
engage  in  legal  literature,  and  has  produced  a  number  of  very  valuable 
law  books.  His  "  Indiana  Practice  and  Pleading,"  in  three  volumes,  is 
a  thorough  and  exhaustive  work  on  code  practice  and  pleading.  A 
volume  published  some  months  since  on  the  ' '  Removal  of  Causes  from 
the  State  to  the  Federal  Courts,"  gives,  in  a  convenient  form,  the  law 
and  practice  relating  to  methods  necessary  to  be  adopted  in  such  cases. 
He  is  now  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  a  work  entitled,  "The  Princi- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKHTCIIJiS.  197 

pies  of  Pleading  and  Practice,"  which  will  aim  to  give,  in  a  clear  and 
practical  form,  the  general  principles  of  pleading  and  practice  as  they 
exist,  as  effected  by  the  rules  of  pleading  at  common  law,  and  in  equity 
and  the  codes  and  statutes  of  the  several  States. 

Although  Judge  Works  came  to  San  Diegoon  account  of  a  bronchial 
affection,  he  is  now  in  the  enjoyment  of  excellent  health.  He  is  a 
laborious  student,  and  as  a  Counsclltjr  stands  in  the  very  front  rank  of 
his  profession.  Personally,  he  is  one  of  the  most  genial  of  men  and  is 
deservedly  popular  with  all.  He  has  a  fine  residence  on  Fifth  Street, 
and  has  invested  some  of  his  means  in  real  estate.  He  has  unbounded 
faith  in  the  future  of  San  Diego  and  expects  to  see  it  a  great  and  thriv- 
ing commercial  city.  Judge  Works  was  married  in  Bevay,  Indiana,  in 
November,  1868,  to  Miss  Alice  Banta.  The  fruit  of  this  union  has 
been  six  children,  all  living  with  their  parents,  and  making  one  of  the 
happiest  family  circles  one  can  wish  to  see. 


L.  S.  McLURE. 


One  of  the  best-known  citizens  of  San  Diego,  on  account  of  his 
public  spirit,  wealth,  and  social  position,  is  L.  S.  McLure.  He  was  born 
in  Marshall,  Saline  County,  Missouri,  September  23,  1848.  Mr. 
McLure' s  father  was  born  in  Charlottesville,  Albemarle  County,  Vir- 
ginia, but  was  raised  in  Pennsylvania.  His  mother,  who  was  a  Miss 
Parkison,  was  born  in  William.sport,  Pennsylvania,  and  is  still  li\  ing. 
When  he  was  three  years  of  age  his  parents  removed  to  the  city  of  St. 
Louis.  He  attended  the  public  schools  there  until  he  was  twelve  years 
old,  and  afterwards  went  to  Pleasant  Ridge  College.  The  war  was  rag- 
ing at  this  time,  and  young  McLure' s  ardent  temperament  drew  him,  as 
might  be  expected  from  his  birth  and  early  training,  to  espouse  the  cause 
of  the  South.  So  pronounced  was  he  in  the  utterance  of  his  sentiments, 
that  he  was,  in  the  summer  of  1863,  banished  from  St.  Louis.  He  im- 
mediately went  into  the  Confederate  lines  and  enlisted  in  the  First  Mis- 
souri Brigade,  in  which  he  served  till  the  close  of  the  war.  in  1865.  He 
then  returned  to  St  Louis,  where  he  remained  until  1869,  when  he 
started  for  Montana.  There  he  was  engaged  in  mining  until  1875, 
when  he  went  to  Puget  Sound,  locating  at  Seattle.  He  resided  in 
Seattle  for  six  years,  devoting  himself  to  the  insurance  business,  repre- 
senting twenty-one  companies,  and  doing  the  largest  business  of  any- 
one north  of  San  Francisco.  During  this  time  he  was  elected  City 
Treasurer,  and  was  appointed  a  Trustee  of  the  Hospital  for  the  Insiine,  at 
Steilacoom.  In  1882  Mr.  McLure  decided  to  remove  to  San  Diego. 
Here  he  engaged  in  the  business  of  insurance  and  was  the  representati\-e 
of  a  number  of  companies  of  fire,  life,  marine  and  accident   insurance. 

16 


198  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

He  has  invested  considerably  in  city  property,  but  still  retains  his  in- 
terests in  mines  in  Montana.  He  has  retired  from  active  business,  and 
now  devotes  himself  entirely  to  the  management  of  his  property  interests 
here  and  in  the  North.  He  finds  time,  however,  to  take  part  in  every 
enterprise  that  has  for  its  object  the  advancement  of  his  adopted  city, 
and  is  a  most  liberal  contributor  to  every  worthy  public  object.      He  is 


.  V-^V/^^,  w'fe^-^V^ 


L.  S.  McLURE. 

a  thorough  San  Diegan  in  his  sentiments,  and  says  he  would  not   live 
anywhere  else. 

Mr.  McLure  was  married  in  July,  1880,  while  living  in  Seattle,  to 
Miss  Ella  Tibbits,  who  is  a  native  of  Minnesota.  Mr.  McLure's  an- 
cestors were  Scotch,  and  although  recognizing  no  aristocracy  but  that 
of  merit  he  is  justly  proud  of  his  own  lineage.  He  can  trace  his  de- 
scent on  his  father's  side  in  an  unbroken  line  to  the  time  of  William  the 
Conqueror. 


GOVERNOR  ROBERT  W.  WATERMAN, 


Among  those  who  have  largely  aided  in  the  wonderful  development 
of  San  Diego  County  during  the  past  three  years  is  the  present  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State,  Robert  W.  Waterman.  Governor  Waterman's  ca- 
reer has  been  in  some  respects  a  peculiar  one.  Although  always  active 
in  the  councils  of  his  party  and  earnest  in  the  performance  of  those 
duties  that  pertain  to  good  citizenship,  unlike  mo.st  men  who  have 
risen  to  prominence  in  public  affairs,  he  never  held  a  political  office  un- 
til after  he  was  fifty  years  of  age. 

He  was  born  in  Fairfield,  Herkimer  County,  New  York,  in  1826, 
but  when  very  young  removed  with  his  parents  to  Illinois.  There  he  re- 
mained until  1850.  Gold  had  been  discovered  in  California  and  the 
new  El  Dorado  was  attracting  the  most  adxenturous  and  progressi\e 
spirits  of  the  country.  Waterman  was  then  twenty-four  years  old,  and 
as  might  be  expected  his  sanguine  temperament  was  easily  affected  by 
the  stories  of  fortunes  to  be  acquired  on  the  shores  of  the  far-away 
Pacific.  He  joined  a  party  of  emigrants  and  made  the  journey  across 
the  plains.  He  did  not  remain  long  in  the  gold  fields,  and  finally 
returned  to  his  home  in  Illinois.  Just  at  this  time  the  Western  States 
were  in  a  red  glow  of  excitement  caused  by  the  border  warfare  in  Kan- 
sas. The  "dough-face"  policy  of  President  Pierce,  largely  moulded 
and  directed  by  his  Secretary  of  War,  Jefferson  Davis,  had  permitted 
affairs  to  assume  such  a  condition  that  the  anti-sla\'ery  element  in  the 
new  Territory  was  thoroughly  terrorized  and  overawed.  The  feeling  in 
the  State  of  Illinois  finally  took  shape,  in  the  spring  of  1856,  in  the  calling 
together  of  a  convention  of  the  "Anti-Nebraska  Party,"  that  was  des- 
tined to  be  a  memorable  one  in  the  history  of  American  politics.  The 
convention  assembled  at  Bloomington  on  the  29th  of  May,  adopted  the 
Republican  name,  formulated  strong  Republican  resolutions,  appointed 
delegates  to  the  coming  Republican  con\ention,  and  nominated  a  lull 
ticket  of  presidential  electors,  with  Abraham  Lincoln  at  their  head.  To 
this  remarkable  deliberative  body  Robert  W.  AV'aterman  was  sent  as  a 
delegate.  There  he  found  himself  surrounded  by  men  of  all  shades  of 
political  belief, — Whigs,  Democrats,  Free-soilers,  Know-nothings,  Abo- 
litionists,— all  willing  to  pool  their  issues,  and  unite  in  the  formation  of  a 
new  party  having  for  its  cardinal  principles  liberty  of  conscience  and 
equality  of  rights  to  all.  That  grand  convention  was  practically  the 
birthplace  of  the  Republican  party,  and  he  stood  with  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Lyman  Trumbull,   Richard  Yates,    David  Davis,  Owen  Lovejoy.  and 

(199) 


200 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


Richard  Oglesby  as  sponsors  to  tlie  political  infant  which  was  thence- 
forth to.  prove  itself  so  stalwart  a  guardian  of  the  liberties  of  the  nation. 
Having  assisted  at  the  baptism  of  the  Republican  party  he  has  e\er 
since  faithfully  fulfilled  the  vows  he  then  assumed. 

In    1873  Mr.  Waterman  returned  to  California  and  purchased  a 
ranch  near  San   Bernardino.      His  experience  in  firming  at  that  time, 


GOVERNOR  ROBERT  W.  WATERMAN. 

however,  does  not  appear  to  have  proved  remunerative,  for  in  the 
following  year  we  find  him  prospecting  in  the  great  Mojave  Desert. 
He  felt  certain  that  the  section  toward  which  he  bent  his  steps  was 
rich  in  mineral  deposits,  and  to  find  it  he  bent  all  the  energies  of  his 
determined  nature.  After  a  long  and  weary  search,  and  surmount- 
ing obstacles  beneath  which  a  man  of  less  resolute  nature  would  have 
succumbed,  he  located  a  silver-bearing  ledge,  which  was  subsequendy 
developed  into  the  Calico  Mining  District.     The  Waterman  mine,  on 


DIOGRAPHICAI.  Sk'liTCJ IliS.  201 

the  line  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad,  he  owns  in  conjunction 
with  Mr.  J.  L.  Porter.  Feeling  strong  faith  in  die  richness  of  the 
Julian  District  in  this  county,  Mr.  Waterman  in  the  fall  of  1886  paid  a 
visit  to  the  Stonewall  mine  and  was  so  forcibly  imijressed  with  what  he 
saw  that  he  purchased  it,  paying  the  sum  of  5^45,000  therefor.  He  at 
once  began  a  system  of  extensive  improvements,  expending  o\er  $50.- 
000  in  the  construction  of  a  mill,  shafts,  etc.,  and  soon  had  the  mine 
on  a  paying  basis.  Finding  necessity  for  a  saw-mill  he  built  and 
equipped  one  of  first-class  capacity,  which  suj^plies  lumber  for  the  use 
of  his  mine  and  the  neighboring  community.  The  revenue  received 
from  his  mining  ventures  is  quite  large,  and  the  major  portion  of  this 
is  invested  in  lands  in  Southern  California.  His  home  ranch,  situated 
in  a  canon  some  five  miles  east  of  San  Bernardino  and  within  sight  of 
the  famous  Arrowhead  Hot  Springs,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  places 
in  California.  Sheltered  from  the  winds,  at  an  altitude  of  over  two  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea,  the  air  is  pure  and  delicious.  The  soil  is  rich,  water 
is  abundant,  and  everything  that  goes  to  make  farm  life  agreeable  is  at 
hand.  On  this  ranch  he  has  a  fine  herd  of  cattle,  and  the  product  of 
his  dairy  is  famous  throughout  all  Southern  California.  It  is  not  to  the 
development  of  mines,  the  tilling  of  the  soil,  and  raising  of  choice  cat- 
tle, however,  that  Governor  Waterman  has  confined  his  energies  and  his 
capital,  but  he  is  identified  with,  every  movement  tending  to  ad\-ance 
the  material  interests  of  his  section.  He  was  one  of  the  projectors  and  is 
largely  interested  financially  in  the  magnificent  structure  known  as 
the  Stewart  Hotel,  now  completed  at  San  Bernardino,  and  is  a  heavv 
stockholder  in  the  proposed  motor  railroad  line  to  be  built  from  San 
Bernardino  to  Arrowhead  Springs.  He  is,  also,  hea\ily  interested  in 
San  Diego  County.  Besides  the  mine  and  saw-mill  near  Julian,  to 
which  reference  has  been  already  made,  he  has  recentlv  purchased  twentv 
thousand  acres  of  land  in  that  \'icinity,  which,  by  the  opening  of  railroad 
communication,  is  bound  to  become  very  \aluable.  For  the  purpose 
of  getting  the  ore  from  the  Stonewall  mine  to  market  and  develo])ing  the 
rich  agricultural  section  of  the  Cuyamaca,  Governor  Waterman  has  inter- 
ested himself  in  the  San  Diego  and  Cuyamaca  narrow-gauge  railroad 
line,  the  construction  of  which  has  been  already  commenced.  The  com- 
pletion of  this  road  will  mark  another  era  in  the  development  of  this 
county,  opening  up,  as  it  will,  a  section  rich  in  agricultural  and  min- 
eral resources  which  has  heretofore  lain  dormant.  A  few  months  since 
Governor  Waterman  purchased  four  fine  residence  lots  in  the  vicinity  of 
Florence  Heights,  San  Diego.  As  a  member  of  the  committee 
appointed  to  secure  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  the  gifted  patriot 
and  eloquent  preacher,  Thomas  Starr  King,  he  has  taken  a  warm  inter- 
est and  has  contributed  liberally  from  his  own  purse. 

As  previouslv  stated  Governor  Waterman  has  ever  since  the  forma- 


202  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

tion  of  the  Republican  Party,  been  one  of  its  most  earnest  followers, 
and,  while  he  had  not  the  inclination  to  seek  political  preferment,  and 
his  business  cares  debarred  him  from  accepting  official  position,  he 
has  always  taken  a  lively  interest  in  its  welfare.  During  the  last  pres- 
idential campaign  he,  in  company  with  Richard  Gird,  a  former  miner 
and  now  a  large  land-owner,  built  a  Republican  wigwam  at  San  Ber- 
nardino and  equipped  three  companies  of  plumed  knights. 

On  the  27th  of  August,  1886,  the  Republican  State  convention  as- 
sembled at  Los  Angeles.  It  was  felt  that  the  nomination  of  a  strong  ticket 
was  necessary  if  California  was  to  be  kept  in  the  Republican  column. 
While  to  the  northern  part  of  the  State  was  generally  conceded  the 
honor  of  nominating  the  head  of  the  ticket,  it  was  decided  that  the 
candidate  for  Lieutenant-Governor  ought  to  come  from  Southern  Cali- 
fornia. Numerous  names  were  placed  before  the  convention,  but  when 
George  A.  Knight,  of  San  Francisco,  sitting  as  a  delegate  for  Mendo- 
cino County,  nominated  Robert  W.  Waterman  in  a  speech  as  brilliant 
as  it  was  convincing,  the  first  ballot  showed  him  to  be  a  prime  favorite, 
he  receiving  two  hundred  and  twenty-nine  votes,  within  ten  and  one-half 
of  the  number  necessary  to  a  choice.  His  speedy  nomination  followed. 
At  the  polls  he  ran  far  ahead  of  his  ticket — as  was  shown  by  the  election 
of  a  Democratic  Governor — defeating  his  rival,  M.  F.  Tarpey,  by  a  vote 
of  ninety-four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine,  to  ninety-two 
thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy-six.  This  was  the  first  political  of- 
fice he  ever  held.  By  the  death  of  Washington  Bartlett,  which  occurred 
on  the  1 2th  of  October  last,  the  duties  of  Chief  Magistrate  devoKetl 
upon  Mr.  Waterman.  The  manner  in  which  he  has  thus  far  discharged 
the  duties  of  his  high  position  indicate  that  his  administration  will  be 
one  of  the  most  successful  that  California  has  ever  experienced.  His  en- 
larged views,  unswerving  integrity  and  high-minded  strength  of  purpose, 
give  ample  promise  to  the  people  that  the  man  who  now  fills  the  guber- 
natorial chair  will  zealously  guard  their  interests,  and  fulfill  the  duties 
of  his  position  with'  credit  to  himself  and  honor  to  the  State. 

Among  his  first  appointments,  illustrating  his  knowledge  of  men 
and  his  desire  to  cut  loose  from  all  entangling  alliances,  was  the  selec- 
tion of  Hon.  Marcus  D.  Boruck,  of  San  Francisco,  to  be  his  private 
Secretary.  Perhaps  no  better  choice  than  this  could  have  been  made. 
Mr.  Boruck  is  a  firm  adherent  of  Republican  principles  and  has  a  large 
acquaintance  w^ith  men  and  affairs.  It  was  during  his  long  service  as 
Secretary  of  the  State  Central  Committee  that  the  Republican  party 
achieved  its  greatest  triumphs  in  California,  and  it  is  not  improper  to  say 
that  those  successes  were  largely  due  to  Mr.  Boruck's  sound  judgment 
and  sage  advice. 

Personally,  Governor  Waterman  is  one  of  the  most  genial  of  men  ; 
simple  in  manners,  he  is  easily  approached,   and  has  a  kind  word  and 


I 


BIOGRAPinCAL  SKETCIflLS.  203 

a  happy  salutation  for  all.  He  is  generous  to  a  fault  and  his  many  excel- 
lent qualities  of  head  and  heart  have,  during  his  career  in  California, 
raised  up  for  him  an  army  of  friends  who  are  not  confined  to  party 
lines,  but  are  as  numerous  among  his  fjpponents  as  among  those  of  his 
own  political  sect. 

Governor  Waterman  was  married  in  Belvidere,  Illinois,  September, 
1847,  to  Miss  Jane  Gardner.  The  fruit  of  their  union  was  seven  chil- 
dren. The  eldest  son  is  dead,  but  two  sons  and  four  daughters  are 
now  living. 


COLONEL  \V.    H.    HOLABIRD. 


According  to  Webster,  one  of  the  definitions  of  boom  is,  "to 
make  a  loud  noise;"  another,,  "to  move  rapidly."  If  San  Diego's 
boom  was  started  with  a  loud  noise,  it  has  certainly  mo\'ed  rapidly, 
and  gathered  stability  and  strength  as  it  progressed.  The  boom,  then, 
has  been  a  good  thing  for  San  Diego;  all  will  admit  that.  It  is  not 
with  the  boom  itself,  however,  that  we  have  to  deal,  but  with  the  man 
who  started  it — the  "Father  of  the  Boom,"  as  he  has  been  termed,  VV. 
H.  Holabird.  Colonel  Holabird  is  a  native  of  the  Green  Mountain 
State,  having  been  born  in  Chittenden  County,  in  1845.  Just  after  hav- 
ing graduated  at  the  Williston  Academy  he  went  with  his  father  to 
Atchison,  Kansas,  where  the  latter  had  been  appointed  agent  of  the 
Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  Railroad,  then  just  completed  to  the  Missouri 
River.  He  entered  the  office  of  the  company  with  his  father,  where 
his  active  mind  soon  found  time,  while  attending  to  his  clerical  duties, 
to  devise  a  system  fcjr  suppl}-ing  the  train  on  the  road  with  periodical 
literatiu'e.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  newspaper  and  periodical 
train  serxice  now  in  operation  on  the  railroads  of  the  country.  During 
the  exciting  contest  in  Kansas  that  raged  between  the  Lecompton  and 
Free  State  parties,  that  preceded  the  great  Civil  War.  young  Holabird 
was  an  earnest  and  active  opponent  of  slavery.  On  the  occasion  of 
the  visit  of  William  H.  Seward  to  Atchison  he  was  one  of  the  most  prom- 
inent of  a  company  of  young  men  who  erected  a  triumphal  arch  in  honor 
of  the  advent  of  "  the  defender  of  Kansas."  He  was  agent  of  the  C. 
O.  C.  and  P.  P.  Express  Company  that  carried  the  mails  across  the 
plains  and  the  Sierras  to  the  Pacific  in  much  less  time  than  had  ever 
been  known  before.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  returned  to  \'er- 
mont  and  enlisted  in  the  Twelfth  Vermont  \'olunteer  Infantry.  In  the 
same  regiment  was  H.  L.  Story,  the  well-known  capitalist  of  San  Diego. 
They  ser\ed  together  during  the  first  three  years  of  the  war.  After 
the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  Holabird  was  transferred  to  the  na\  y,  and 
ordered   to   service   on    board    the    monitor    }fonadnock.      Alter    the 


204 


CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 


bombardment  of  Fort  Fisher,  in  which  his  vessel  took  part,  he  was 
promoted  to  be  Paymaster.  In  the  winter  of  1865-66  he  made  the 
eventful  voyage  in  the  JMonadnock  around  the  Horn.  On  the  way  up 
the  coast  the  vessel  came  into  San  Diego  Bay,  and  anchored  for  a  few 
days  off  La  Playa.  After  being  mustered  out  of  service  at  Mare  Island 
Navy  Yard,  Colonel  Holabird  returned   East,    locating    in   Chicago, 


COLONEL  W.   H.  HOLABIRD. 

where  he  was  engaged  a  short  time  in  commercial  pursuits.  He  soon 
tired  of  this  quiet  life,  however,  and  went  back  to  railroading.  For 
seven  years  he  was  in  the  serviceof  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe 
as  general  traveling  agent. 

When  Babcock  &  Story  became  interested  in  the  Coronado  Beach 
property,  and  began  to  lay  plans  for  improving  it,  they  looked  about 
to  find  a  man  whom  they  could  rely  upon  to  take  immediate  charge 
and  assist  in  its  development.     At  this  juncture  Mr.    Story  bethought 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  205 

him  ot  his  old  comrade-in-aniis,  W.  H.  Holabird.  He  sent  lor  him 
and  engaged  his  services  as  general  agent  of  the  company.  In  two 
weeks'  time  Colonel  Holabird  had  copies  of  a  map  of  the  property  and 
a  descriptive  pamphlet  in  every  city  and  town  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  At  the  great  sale,  in  November,  1886,  he  acted  as  auctioneer, 
and  as  an  incentive  to  the  bidders  he  unrolled  a  plan  of  the  Hotel  del 
Coronado  that  was  to  be  and  is.  Many  thought  his  descriptions  too 
glowing,  his  picture  of  the  future  too  highly  colored.  Those  persons 
now  wish  they  had  inxested  more  heavily  in  the  lots  then  offered  by 
the  auctioneer  to  the  highest  bidder.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
San  Diego  boom,  and  for  his  services  on  that  occasion,  Colonel  Hola- 
bird has  been  known  as  the  "  Father  of  the  Boom."  After  this  Colo- 
nel Holabird  laid  out  and  boomed  all  the  towns  along  the  line  of  the 
California  Southern  Railroad,  and  for  a  time  made  his  headquarters  at 
Los  Angeles.  The  superior  ad\antages  of  San  Diego,  however,  l>n)Ught 
him  back,  and  last  year  he  located  here  again,  this  time,  as  he  says,  for 
good. 


COLONEL  JOHN  A.   HELPHIXGS'II  XE. 


Although  not  an  old-time  resident  of  San  Diego,  there  is  no  citi- 
zen more  highly  appreciated  for  his  enterprise  and  public  spirit  than  Ci>l. 
John  A.  Helphingstine.  Colonel  Helphingstine  was  born  in  Crawford 
County,  Illinois,  October  12,  1844.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  his 
boyhood  was  passed  on  the  farm  until  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age. 
Then  came  the  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Sumter  was  fired  on,  and  the 
North,  rising  like  a  giant  in  his  might,  flew  to  arms.  The  loyal  citizens 
of  the  country  responded  with  alacrity  to  President  Lincoln's  call  for 
volunteers,  but  from  no  section  was  the  response  more  general  than 
from  the  broad  prairies  of  his  own  State.  Men  past  the  prime  of  life 
took  their  places  in  the  ranks,  and  school-boys  dropped  their  b(,)oks  to 
enlist  in  the  service  of  the  Union.  Young  Helphingstine  bade  his  parents 
farewell,  left  the  farm,  and  enlisted  as  a  pri\-ate  in  the  Si.xty-second  Illi- 
nois Volunteers.  He  served  through  the  war,  in  the  Army  of  the  Cinn- 
berland  for  two  years  and  then  was  transferred  to  the  West,  and  was 
mustered  out  as  Quartermaster  of  his  regiment.  During  his  spare 
moments  while  in  the  army,  Helphingstine  had  studied  law,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  war  he  attended  the  high  school  in  Crawford  County. 
Having  graduated,  he  resumed  his  law  studies  under  Judge  Harrison, 
in  Independence,  Kansas.  In  1870  he  was  admitted  to  the  Kansas 
bar  and  successfully  practiced  his  profession  for  ten  years  in  Independ- 
ence. He  served  one  term  as  Police  Judge  of  the  town,  and  for  five 
years  was  Countv  Clerk  ot  Montgomery  County. 


2o6 


CITY  AND  COrXTY  Ol'  SAX  nilAiO. 


In  1880  he  went  to  New  Mrxit-o,  where  he-  enyuj^etl  in  niinini^;-, 
continuing  in  that  calling  for  three  years.  He  then  turned  his  at- 
tention to  journalism,  and  established  a  daily  newspaper,  the  Chieftain, 
at  Socorro.  He  conducted  this  ])a])er  for  three  years,  with  ability  and 
energy,  and  in  that  time  made  it  a  power  in  the  community.  He  was 
largely  instrumental  in  seruriiu>  the  appointment  of  E.  G.  Ross  as  Gov- 


a^^irS^ 


COLONEL  JOHN  A.   HELPHLNGSTLVE. 

ernor  of  the  Territory.  The  circumstances  attending  his  connection 
with  this  appointment  are  so  strongly  characteristic  of  the  man — of  his 
loyalty  to  friends  and  his  indomitable  perseverance — that  it  is  worth 
recounting.  Ross  was  an  old  Kansas  man,  and  at  one  time,  during 
Andy  Johnson's  administration,  had  represented  the  State  in  the  United 
States  Senate.  His  candid  views  ojienly  expressed,  and  his  independ- 
ent conduct,  however,  during  those  stirring  times,  injured  him  with  his 
party  (the  Republican),  and  upon  his  return  home  from  the  Senate,  he 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKIiTCIIES.  207 

was  politically  ostracized.  Disappointed  at  the  treatment  he  had  re- 
ceived at  the  hands  of  his  party,  and  reduced  in  means,  he  left  Kansiis 
and  went  to  New  Mexico.  There  Helphingstine  found  him  working  at  a 
case  in  a  newsjiaper  office.  The  two  men  had  formed  a  friendship  in 
other  days,  and  Helphin^-stine  came  to  his  assistance  now.  Knowing  his 
thorough  e.xecutixe  ability  and  his  stubborn  honesty,  he  boldly  advo- 
cated Ross'  appointment  as  Territorial  Go\ernor  in  the  columns  of  the 
Chieftahi.  This  indorsement  proved  of  eminent  ser\ice,  and  Ro.ss  was 
made  Governor.  During  his  administration,  Helphingstine  served  as 
Inspector- General  on  his  staff  with  the  rank  of  Colonel. 

On  the  twentieth  of  October,  1886,  Colonel  Helphingstine  came  to 
San  Diego.  He  had  intended  resuming  his  law  practice  here,  but  was 
wooed  from  his  profession  by  the  brighter  opening  he  found  in  real  es- 
tate. He  took  charge  of  the  lands  of  the  Coronado  Beach  Company 
as  their  general  agent,  February  i,  1887,  and  remained  in  that  position 
until  the  ist  of  September  last.  During  this  time  his  sales  of  real  es- 
tate amounted  to  about  one  million  dollars.  While  connected  with  the 
Coronado  Company,  he  formed  a  syndicate  and  jnirchased  a  large  tract 
of  land  within  the  city  limits,  which  he  has  placed  on  the  market,  under 
the  name  of  Helphingstine's  Addition.  He  also  has  the  agency  of  the  El 
Cajon  Valley  Company.  Colonel  Helphingstine,  some  months  since, 
secured  the  premises  formerly  occupied  by  the  Commercial  Bank  of  San 
Diego,  and  has  there  fitted  uj)  the  finest  set  of  offices  to  be  found  in 
San  Diego.  On  the  tenth  of  October  last,  he  was  presented,  by  Mr.  E. 
S.  Babcock,  Jr.,  on  behalf  of  the  Coronado  Beach  Company,  with  an 
elegant  gold  watch,  as  a  token  of  their  appreciation  of  his  efilbrts  in  their 
behalf  when  general  agent  of  the  company.  Colonel  Helphingstine  is 
interested  quite  largely  in  city  real  estate,  and,  besides,  has  a  valuable 
ranch  property.  Colonel  Helphingstine  was  married,  in  Fredonia, 
Kansas,  in  February,  1872,  to  Miss  L.  E.  Lowe,  daughter  of  Rev. 
Boyd  Lowe.  Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  one  son,  now  tweKe 
years  of  age, and  in  their  beautiful  residence  on  Florence  Heights.  Col- 
onel and  Mrs.  Helphingstine  have  an  ideal  home. 

San  Diego  has  no  citizen  more  devoted  to  her  interests,  or  whose 
faith  in  her  future  greatness  is  stronger,  than  Colonel  Helphingstine. 
He  is  popular  with  all  classes  of  people,  and  his  friends  are  legion. 


WILLARD    N.    FOS. 


As  has  been  stated  in  the  introduction  to  this  work,  the  publishers 
have  sought  to  confine  the  biographical  portion  of  it  to  the  older  res- 
idents of  the  city  and  county,  those  who  have  been  identified  with  San 
Diego  in  its  days  of  patient  waiting,  and  those  who  have  aided  in 
starting  it  upon  its  wonderful  career  of  progress.  There  are,  however, 
citizens  who,  though  their  residence  has  been  comparatively  short,  are 
to-day  as  thoroughly  identified  with  the  growing  city,  and  through 
their  active  energy  and  public-spirited  enterprise  are  helping  to  develop 
its  great  advantages  as  though  they  had  been  many  years  residents 
within  its  gates.  Prominent  among  this  class  is  Willard  N.  Fos.  If 
for  no  other  reason,  he  is  deserving  of  a  place  in  this  work  as  an  exam- 
ple of  what  youth,  combined  with  energy,  pluck,  and  brain  has  accom- 
plished in  San  Diego.  Mr.  Fos  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  having  been  born 
in  Berlin,  February  25,  1863.  When  he  was  eight  years  old  his  parents 
removed  to  South  Lincoln,  Massachusetts,  and  there  Willard  obtained 
the  first  rudiments  of  his  education.  Three  years  later  he  went  to  Man- 
chester, New  Hampshire,  where  he  entered  the  public  schools,  and  con- 
tinued until  he  graduated  at  the  high  school,  in  1883.  He  then  entered 
Gaskell's  Commercial  College,  where  he  remained  as  a  student  for  a 
year.  Then  so  apt  a  scholar  had  he  proven  himself,  so  thoroughly  had 
he  mastered  the  details  of  all  that  was  taught  in  the  institution,  that  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one  he  was  selected  as  Principal.  He  had  now  thor- 
oughly acquired  the  theory  of  business,  and  was  soon  to  make  a  prac- 
tical test  of  his  qualifications.  The  Page  Belting  Company,  of  Concord, 
New  Hampshire,  offered  him  a  handsome  salary  to  engage  as  a  traveling 
salesman  for  them.  He  was  very  successful  and  brought  to  the  firm  a 
large  increase  in  custom.  Not  content  with  being  an  employe,  how- 
ever, he  started  in  the  same  business  on  his  ov/n  account  at  Manchester. 
In  1886  Mr.  Fos  had  his  attention  directed  to  Southern  California,  and 
noting  the  superior  geographical  position  of  San  Diego,  its  fine  harbor, 
and  its  great  climatic  advantages,  he  pressed  his  inquiries  further.  He 
learned  of  the  great  progress  that  was  being  made  by  the  means  of  capi- 
tal and  energy  to  develop  these  advantages,  and  he  decided  that  he 
would  come  hither  and  lend  the  aid  of  his  youth  and  push  toward  build- 
ing up  this  young  city.  He  came  and  has  prospered,  probably  even 
beyond  his  most  sanguine  expectations.  He  opened  a  banking  office, 
and  bought  a  large  tract  of  land  along  the  shores  of  the  bay,  between 
(208) 


BIOGRAPHICAL  Skli  IC  If  US. 


209 


the  present  city  and  Old  Town.  A  steam  motor  line  is  nf»\v  running 
through  the  property,  and  it  is  being  rapidly  covered  with  tasteful 
dwellings.  From  the  upper  portion  of  the  tract  a  most  magnificent  view 
can  be  obtained,  and  it  is  bound  to  become  one  of  the  most  attractive 
I)ortions  of  the  city.  Mr.  Fos'  reputation  for  business  sagacity  and 
probity,  which  he   acquired   in   his   New  England  home,  served    him 


WILLARD  N.  FOS. 

in  good  stead  when  he  came  to  locate  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  as  he  has 
been  called  upon  to  invest  large  sums  for  his  acquaintances  in  the  East, 
they  trusting  implicitly  to  his  judgment.  Mr.  P'os  is  a  member  ot  the 
Masonic  Order,  is  an  Odd  Fellow,  a  Knight  of  Pythias,  and  belongs  to 
several  other  fraternal  societies.  He  has  a  fine  residence  on  Florence 
Heights,  and  owns  considerable  city  as  well  as  suburban  property  out- 
side of  his  addition.  He  was  married  in  Manchester.  New  Hampshire. 
February  2,  1885,  to  Miss  Charlotte  Maud  Whittier,  a  cousin  of  the  poet, 


2 lo  CITY  AND  CO  UNT Y  OF  SAN  DIEC  O. 

John  G.  Whittier.  He  has  one  child,  a  daughter.  Mr.  Fo.s  owns  prop- 
erty at  Kendle  Green,  just  outside  of  Boston,  where  his  ])arents  reside, 
but  he  says  there  is  no  place  like  San  Diego,  and  here  he  intends  to 
make  his  home  for  life. 


MORSE,  WHALEY  &  DALTON   BUILDING. 

[See  illustration  opposite  page  14.) 


The  first  building  thoroughly  metropolitan  in  appearance  erected 
in  San  Diego,  was  the  Morse- Pierce  Block  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  and 
F  Streets.  This  was  completed  in  August  last,  and  attracted  many 
favorable  comments  from  visitors.  So  well  satisfied  with  the  success 
that  attended  this  building  was  Mr.  E.  W.  Morse,  its  part  owner  and 
projector,  that  he  proposed  to  his  partners,  Messrs.  Thomas  Whaley 
and  R.  H.  Dalton,  that  they  should  join  him  in  putting  up  another  to 
equal  it  in  architectural  beauty  and  the  substantial  character  of  its  con- 
struction. This  was  agreed  to  and  a  very  eligible  location  having  been 
secured  on  Fifth  Street  next  to  the  First  National  Bank,  the  work  of 
construction  was  begun  in  September,  and  lately  completed.  This 
building  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  for  its  size,  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
It  has  a  frontage  of  fifty  feet  on  Fifth  Street,  with  a  depth  of  ninety-five 
feet.  It  is  four  stories  in  height  and  the  front  of  the  roof  is  surmounted 
by  a  pediment  in  the  center,  flanked  on  either  side  by  a  railing  of  terra 
cotta.  In  the  center  of  the  pediment  is  the  monogram  of  the  proprie- 
tors, and  directly  underneath  the  figures  "  1887."  "  The  front  of  the 
building  is  of  the  finest  pressed  brick,  ornamented  with  granite,  terra 
cotta,  marble  and  onyx.  All  of  the  capitols,  keystones,  ballisters,  pan- 
els, and  sprendels  are  in  terra  cotta;  the  sills,  skewbecks  and  corbels 
are  in  granite;  the  cornices  are  in  galvanized  iron,  and  at  different 
points  blocks  of  white  marble  and  black  onyx  set  in,  lend  a  tone  of 
richness  and  finish  to  the  front  that  is  admirable. 

The  lower  floor  is  divided  into  two  stores,  extending  the  whole 
depth  of  the  building.  The  entrance  to  the  upper  floors  is  by  means  of 
a  wide  doorway,  which  opens  into  a  large  vestibule  paved  with  tiles. 
The  stairways  are  built  in  double  flights,  having  a  landing-place  half 
way  in  each  story.  They  are  semi-circular,  and  an  arcade  extends 
from  the  ground  floor  to  the  roof  The  stairs  are  built  of  solid 
oak.  The  halls,  corridors  and  stairways  have  a  dado  of  lincrusta  wal- 
ton  and  are  amply  lighted.  The  hinges  of  the  doors  are  of  bronze, 
and  all  the  door  knobs  are  of  ebony.  The  window  glass  in  the  entire 
front  of  the  building  is  the  finest  imported  plate.  The  rooms  on  the 
second  floor  are  to  be  used  for  offices  and  are  so  arranged  that  all  of 
them  are  provided  with  an  abundance  of  light  and  fresh  air.  The 
third  story  is  divided  up  into  suites  of  rooms  and  will  be  let  for  lodging 


lUi )  CKAnifU  AL  SKI:  fC  If  US.  2 1 1 

purposes.  These  suites  h;i\e  e\ery  comenience  that  experience  can 
suggest,  and  will,  w  hen  lurnished,  make  luxurious  apartments  for  bache- 
lors or  small  families.  The  fourth  floor,  which,  in  reality,  consists  of 
two  stories,  having  a  height  between  the  floor  and  roof  of  over  twenty 
feet,  is  finished  up  into  two  magnilicent  halls  for  secret  societies.  With 
the  great  height  of  the  ceilings  and  an  abundance  of  light,  these  rooms 
rank  with  the  finest  of  the  kind  in  the  State.  The  building  is  lighted 
throughout  with  the  Edison  incandescent  light,  and  on  the  sidewalk  in 
front  are  four  ornamental  iron  electric  light  lamp  posts.  The  sidewalk 
in  front  of  the  building  is  made  of  artificial  stone.  In  addition  to  the 
stairways  provision  is  made  in  the  center  of  the  building  for  an  elevatfjr. 
This  will  be  built  on  the  most  approved  plan  and  run  by  hydraulic 
power.  The  comj^letion  of  the  Morse,  Whaley  &  Dalton  Block  marks 
an  era  in  architectural  progress  in  San  Diego,  and  the  energy  and  public 
spirit  of  its  projectors  cannot  be  too  highly  commended.  It  is  to  the 
efiorts  of  such  men  that  San  Diego  will  be  largely  indebted  for  the 
sul)stantial  appearance  of  its  business  edifices. 


FIRST   NATIONAL    BANK. 

[See  illustration  opposite  page  40.] 


This  institution  was  organized  in  July,  1883,  as  the  Bank  of 
Southern  California,  but  on  the  ist  of  October  following  it  was  reor- 
ganized as  the  First  National  Bank  of  San  Diego.  The  original  incor- 
porators and  stockholders  were  Jacob  Gruendike,  President;  R.  A. 
Thomas,  Vice-President;  John  Wolfskill,  W.  L.  Parker,  and  John  R. 
Thomas.  C.  E.  Thomas  was  cashier,  but  was  not  a  stockholder.  The 
capital  was  then  $50,000,  but  it  has  since  been  increased  twice.  In 
October,  1885,  it  was  increased  to  $100,000,  and  E.  S.  Babcock,  Jr., 
and  H.  L.  Story  were  added  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  in  June, 
1887,  it  was  again  doubled,  making  the  capital  now  $200,000,  with  a 
surplus  of  $75,000.  The  present  officers  of  the  bank  are:  R.  A. 
Thomas,  President;  H.  L.  Story,  Vice-President;  O.  S.  Hubbell, 
cashier;  M.  T.  Gilmore,  assistant  cashier.  These  four,  with  E.  S. 
Babcock,  Jr.,  Jacob  Gruendike,  and  J.  R.  Thomas,  constitute  the  Board 
of  Directors.  The  deposits  of  the  bank  are  now  something  over 
$2,100,000,  and  the  amount  of  cash  carried  on  hand  about  $1,000,000. 
The  total  assets  are  $2,500,000,  and  they  are  increasing  at  the  rate  of 
$200,000  a  month.  The  bank  has  on  its  books  over  two  thousand,  five 
hundred  actual  accounts,  and  does  a  business  of  from  $400,000  to  600,- 
000  a  day.  The  business  increased  during  the  last  year  about  tAvo  hun- 
dred per  cent.  There  are  now  twenty-five  persons  employed  in  the  bank 
in  various  capacities.     The  banking  room  occupied  for  the  past  two  years 


212  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIRGO. 

had  grown  totally  inadequate  to  accommodate  the  great  increase  in  busi- 
ness, and  accorthngly,  several  months  since,  it  was  decided  to  utilize 
the  store  adjoining.  The  partition  wall  was  torn  down  and  the  whole 
lower  floor  of  the  building  has  been  prepared  for  the  use  of  the  bank. 
This  now  makes  a  commodious  banking  room,  fifty  by  sixty  feet  in  size, 
and  abundantly  lighted.  Three  new  vaults  are  being  put  in,  one  of 
which  will  be  burglar-proof,  and  the  others  will  be  used  for  the  storage 
of  books,  etc.  The  interior  of  the  room  is  finished  in  mahogany,  and 
the  walls  and  ceiling  are  elaborately  frescoed.  In  arranging  the  in- 
terior, the  lobby,  or  space  allotted  to  customers,  is  in  the  center  and 
the  desks  and  working  room  are  on  the  outer  edge,  which  afford  the 
clerical  force  the  benefit  of  plenty  of  light.  The  cost  of  these  improve- 
ments has  been  about  $30,000. 

The  bank  has  been  conserv^ative  in  its  management,  and  not  less 
than  fifty  per  cent  of  the  deposits  are  carried  in  hand.  It  has  attained 
a  very  wide  popularity  and  the  great  increase  in  its  business  is  one  of 
the  marked  features  of  San  Diego's  rapid  growth.  If  its  present 
enlightened  management  is  continued  there  is  no  question  that  it  will 
retain  the  position  it  now  occupies,  that  of  one  of  the  most  prosper- 
ous, as  it  is  one  of  the  most  popular,  banking  institutions  on  the  Pacific 
Coast. 

The  following  is  the  report  of  the  condition  of  the  First  National 
Bank  of  San  Diego  at  the  close  of  business  December  8,  1887. 

RESOURCES. 

Loans  and  discounts $1,400,888  1 7 

United  States  bonds 71,000  00 

Real  estate  and  furniture 38,442  47 

Expenses 9,398  52 

Due  from  United  States  Treasurer 2,250  00 

Cash  on  hand $372,103  21 

Cash  with  banks   623,009  93—995,113  14 

Total $2,517,092  30 

LIABILITIES. 

Capital $     200,000  00 

Surplus  and  profits 106,603  77 

Deposits 2,156,468  53 

Circulation 54,020  00 


Total $2,517,092  30 


THE    CONSOLIDATED    NATIONAL    HANK    OF 
SAN    DIEGO. 

[See  illustration  opposite  page  46.] 


This  bank  is  the  oldest  bank  in  the  county,  being  the  successor  of 
the  Bank  of  San  Diego,  which  was  estabhshed  in  1870,  with  T.  L.  Nes- 
mith  as  President,  and  Bryant  Howard  as  cashier  and  manager.  In  i  S79 
this  bank  consolidated  with  the  Commercial  Bank,  taking  the  name  of 
the  "Consolidated  Bank,"  with  Judge O.  S.  Witherby  as  President,  and 
Bryant  Howard  as  cashier  and  manager,  and  in  1883  was  nationalized 
with  the  same  officers. 

Its  stockholders  are  among  the  oldest  residents  and  wealthiest  peo- 
ple of  the  county,  some  of  whom  have  been  residents  of  the  county 
since  the  cession  ot  the  State  to  the  Union.  Its  Directors  are  men  of 
experience  in  the  business  of  this  coast,  and  its  present  President  and 
manager,  Mr.  Howard,  is  one  of  the  best  known  bankers  on  the  Pacific 
slope. 

Its  management  is  very  conservative,  confining  itself  strictly  to 
legitimate  banking  business,  and  furnishing  temporary  aid,  not  capital, 
to  its  customers.  Its  employes  are  prohibited,  by  its  by-laws,  from 
dealing  in  stocks,  or  taking  any  part  whatever  in  any  speculative 
schemes. 

While  this  bank  has  kept  clear  of  any  entangling  alliances,  it  has 
lent  its  hearty  assistance  to  every  legitimate  commercial  enterprise,  and 
has  aided  in  the  establishment  of  nearly  every  industry  in  this  coimty. 
It  has  been  the  leading  factor  in  the  commercial  development  of  this 
section  of  the  State,  and  while  prudent  and  cautious,  has  always  been 
liberal  in  its  aid  where  safety  was  assured,  and  has  never  pushed  a 
deserving  customer. 

A  bank  so  conservative,  yet  so  liberal  and  just,  cannot  fail  to  com- 
mand the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  business  public,  and  this  bank 
and  its  officers  possess  it  to  the  fullest  extent.  Its  commercial  success 
is  evidenced  by  its  last  statement  at  the  close  of  business,  December  7, 
showing  a  cash  reserve  of  nearly  $900,000,  deposits  of  over  $2,000,000, 
and  capital  surplus,  and  profits  of  $350,000. 

A  brief  description  of  its  office  will  be  of  interest  to  those  oi  our 
readers  who  have  not  been  so  fortunate  as  to  have  seen  it.  The  bank 
is  located  in  the  massive  two-story  building  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
G  Streets — one  of  the  busiest  corners  in  the  city.  Its  office  proper  is 
fifty  by  sixty  feet,  besides  which  there  are  a  Directors'   parlor  and  a 

17  ^'''^ 


214  r/D^  AND  CO  UNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

reading-room  for  its  employes.  It  has  four  large  vaults,  and  over  one 
hundred  feet  of  massive  walnut  counters,  over  which  eighteen  clerks, 
besides  its  officers,  attend  to  the  wants  of  its  customers.  The  walls 
and  ceilings  are  beautifully  frescoed  in  the  style  of  the  Italian  renais- 
sance, the  same  style  being  observed  in  all  of  the  interior  decoration  of 
the  building.  Taken  all  in  all,  it  is  the  finest  and  best  equipped  bank- 
ing room  in  the  State,  and  has  few  peers  in  the  country. 

To  all  who  may  visit  San  Diego  we  commend  this  bank  as  a  safe 
depository  for  their  funds,  and  for  the  courtesy  of  its  officers,  who  are 
ever  ready  to  give  new-comers  truthful  and  valuable  information. 


THE  PIERCE-MORSE  BLOCK. 

[See  illustration  opposite  page  60.] 


One  of  the  finest  buildings  in  Southern  California  is  the  Pierce- 
Morse  Block,  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  F  Streets.  It  is  50x100 
feet,  five  stories  high,  and  is  fitted  up  with  every  modern  improve- 
ment. It  has  a  first-class  passenger  elevator  that  makes  the  rooms  in 
the  upper  stories  as  easy  of  access  as  those  on  the  ground  floor.  It  is 
lighted  by  incandescent  electric  lights  throughout,  and  four  large  orna- 
mental iron  lamp  posts  are  erected  on  the  street  in  front  of  the  building, 
which  contain  each  a  group  of  electric  lamps;  and  these,  when  the  fluid 
is  turned  on  at  night,  render  the  vicinity  of  the  building  as  light  as  day. 
In  the  cellar  is  a  fine  engine  that  runs  the  elevator,  the  electric  lights, 
etc.  The  ground  flour  is  occupied  by  first-class  stores,  and  the  floors 
above  are  all  rented  for  offices.  The  building  is  a  monument  to  the  en- 
terprise of  its  projectors,  James  M.  Pierce,  now  deceased,  and  E.  W. 
Morse,  and  is  a  credit  to  San  Diego. 


VILLA  MONTEZUMA. 

A  MAGNIFICENT  AND  ARTISTIC    HOME,   DEVOTED   TO.  MUSIC,  ART 

AND   LITERATURE. 


Situated  on  a  gently  sloping  hill-side  on  the  corner  of  Twentieth 
and  K  Streets,  and  commanding  a  magnificent  view  of  San  Diego  and 
its  incomparably  lovely  surroundings,  stands  a  private  residence  that  the 
citizens  may  look  upon  with  pardonable  pride.  It  is  the  Villa  Monte- 
zuma, the  home  of  the  world-famed  pianist  and  vocalist,  Jesse  Shepard, 
whose  wonderful  performances  have  thrilled  the  music-loving  of  two 
continents.  There  is  something  so  very  peculiar,  something  so  very 
striking,  about  even  the  exterior  of  the  building  that  the  passer-by 
cannot  but  stop  and  admire  its   extreme  unostentatious  eccentricity. 


I 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKI'/rCimS.  215 

The  odd  windows,  in  peculiar  shapes  and  sizes,  some  of  which  are  of 
stained  glass;  the  inscription  printed  in  quaint  old  English:  "A.  D. 
MDVVVLXXXVII;"  the  harmonious  blending  of  colors — at  once  com- 
mand attention,  and  the  observer  longs  to  see  what  one  who  planned 
the  exterior  of  a  mansion  so  unique  would  do  for  its  interior  embellish- 
ment. 

The  moment  the  hall  is  entered  one  is  made  acquainted  with  the 
artistic  purpose,  the  effects  of  universal  culture  to  be  seen  at  every  turn- 
ing. At  once  it  becomes  apparent  that  nothing  is  copied  here,  nothing 
imitated.  The  art  student,  while  yet  standing  in  the  hall,  recognizes  at 
a  glance  that  here  is  a  study  which  cannot  be  properly  appreciated 
and  appropriated  at  a  single  visit,  but  that  the  masterly  ensemble  of  light 
and  shade  in  positive  and  negative  colors,  must  be  studied  with  as  much 
serious  consideration  as  would  be  required  in  the  study  of  a  picture  by 
Raphael  or  a  portrait  by  Rubens. 

THE    DRAWING    ROOM. 

Under  an  arabesque  art  transom  hang  the  portieres  separating  the 
red  room  from  the  drawing-room.  This  far  surpasses  in  elegance 
anything  yet  seen  in  the  mansion.  Everything  has  the  appearance  of 
riches,  art,  and  love  for  the  beautiful;  the  dark  shades  here  modify  and 
subdue  the  light  ones  there — everything  is  strictly  in  keeping  with  the 
artistic  intention,  the  furniture  being  selected  with  a  special  view  to  the 
arrangements  and  designs  on  floor  and  ceiling.  Perhaps  the  great  feat- 
ure of  this  room  is  the  splendid  bay-window  eighteen  feet  deep,  of  bent 
glass,  the  upper  sashes  containing  life-size  heads,  in  art  glass,  of  Shakes- 
peare, Goethe,  and  Corneille,  these  heads  representing  the  poetry  ol 
England,  Germany,  and  France.  The  ceiling  is  exquisitely  silvered  and 
bronzed,  relieved  by  deep  panels  of  redwood.  A  large  Persian  rug  of 
rich  pattern  gives  this  room  an  oriental  as  well  as  a  home-like  and  most 
inviting  air,  appreciated  at  a  glance  by  persons  of  broad  culture  and 
experience.  The  bay-window  is  separated  from  the  main  room  by  a 
beautiful  arch  in  carved  wood,  from  which  hang  three  large  lace  cur- 
tains, which  show  the  jeweled  and  arabesque  glass  behind  in  the  most 
artistic  manner  possible. 

THE    MUSIC  ROOM. 

In  the  music-room,  which  may  be  entered  through  heavy  portieres 
either  from  the  pink  room  or  the  drawing-room,  e\erything  is  so  severe, 
so  simple,  yet  so  grand,  that  one  cannot  but  admire  the  most  exquisite 
taste  that  Mr.  Shepard  has  displayed  in  its  arrangement.  The  first 
things  that  catch  the  eye  are  the  art  windows,  through  the  many-hued 
glasses  by  which  the  room  is  lighted.  In  the  figures  there  tlelineated, 
every  feature  represented,  every  expression,  every  tint  is  pciiect.  In- 
deed, they  seem  to  lack  only  the  spark  of  life  to  make  them  flesh  and 


2i6  CITY  AND   COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

body.  They  are  most  wonderfully  life-like,  and  one  thinks  that  in  them 
art  has  accomplished  a  work  almost  divine.  In  the  first  moments  of 
day,  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun  illumine  a  life-sized  portrait  of  Sappho, 
the  Greek  poet.  Reclining  upon  a  couch,  and  with  a  wrap  thrown 
loosely  about  her  form,  she  sits  idly  picking  a  lyre.  Beside  her  are 
two  Cupids,  who  accomj)any  Sappho's  playing,  with  flutes.  The  forms 
of  the  figures  are  exquisitely  moulded  and  the  proportions  are  perfect. 
Through  an  open  portal  a  marine  view,  with  rays  of  sunlight  and  great 
rolling  storm  clouds,  is  pictured.  Over  the  portrait  is  a  heavy  black 
and  white  sgraffito  border,  beneath  which  and  about  the  picture  is  a 
crazy  patch  of  Venetian,  opalescent  and  cathedral  glass  of  rich  colors. 
Throughout  this  and  in  the  borders  of  all  the  figures  in  the  room  are 
interspersed  heavy  sapphires,  rubies,  emeralds,  garnets,  opals,  and  other 
jewels,  all  cut  and  highly  polished.  These  gleam  and  sparkle  like 
dew  on  a  bedofpansies  in  the  morning  sun.  To  the  left  of  Sappho's 
portrait  is  a  life-size  one  of  L'Allegra,  representing  Milton's  poem. 
Corresponding  with  this  is  a  portrait  of  La  Penserosa,  another  of  Mil- 
ton's creatures,  who  stands  admiring  some  blossoms  she  holds  in  her 
hands.  Over  these  windows,  which  occupy  the  front  of  the  bay-win- 
dow in  which  they  are  situated,  is  an  arch  of  carved  black  walnut,  rest- 
ing upon  columns  of  similar  material.  In  the  north  end  of  the  room,  in 
circular  windows,  are  life-sized  bust  portraits  of  Beethoven,  and  Mozart, 
These  are  marvelous  works  of  art;  Beethoven,  to  the  left,  with  hair  dis- 
heveled, his  prominent  forehead  wrinkled,  small,  deep-set  eyes,  has  a 
dreamy  look,  as  if  his  mind  was  in  another  sphere;  Mozart's  handsome 
features,  to  the  right,  snow-white  hair,  prominent  nose,  features  particu- 
larly kind  and  benevolent,  and  eyes  large  and  bright,  that  are  lighted 
up  as  if  he  is  about  to  speak.  At  the  other  end  of  the  room,  portraits 
of  Raphael  and  Rubens  correspond  with  those  of  Beethoven  and  Mo- 
zart. These,  like  their  companion  pictures,  are  masterpieces,  and  as 
the  sunlight  strikes  them  at  different  times  of  day,  the  faces  are  filled 
with  life-hke  expressions  that  no  painter's  brush  could  ever  portray. 
Beneath  the  portraits  of  Rubens  and  Raphael  are  allegorical  represen- 
tations of  the  Orient  and  the  Occident,  each  consisting  of  a  man  dressed 
in  the  costume  of  his  respective  clime. 

Reluctantly  the  eye  leaves  the  marvelous  figures  constituting  the 
windows,  and  looks  about  to  observe  the  next  surprise.  Art,  pure  and 
simple,  is  found  in  everything.  No  two  chairs  in  the  room — or  in  the 
building,  in  fact — are  alike  in  either  shape  or  hue.  There  are  no  pict- 
ures in  the  music-room,  save  those  in  the  art-windows,  but  the  hard- 
finished  redwood  walls  are  relieved  by  ebony  panels  inlaid  with  bas-re- 
lief figures  of  ivory  and  mother-of-pearl,  that  are  hung  at  intervals. 
The  ceiling  is  of  redwood  panels  and  lincnista  walton  in  silver-gray 
figures,  and  from  its  center  depends  an  elaborate  oriental  candelabra 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  217 

containing  on  the  outer  circle  six  pale  blue  wax  candles,  and  within  is  a 
heavily  jeweled  metallic  shade  that  contains  a  single  wax  candle.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  six  heavy  Persian  rugs  that  cover  the  highly  waxed  floor, 
an  immense  Polar  bear  skin  is  in  its  center.  Opposite  Sappho's  jjor- 
trait  is  the  mantel.  It  is  of  medieval  design,  and  is  built  of  imported 
English  tiles,  heavily  glazed,  and  porcelain  bricks.  The  design  of  the 
mantel  is  purely  original.  It  represents  the  roof  of  a  tower  of  one  of  the 
old  German  castles,  like  those  found  along  the  Rhine,  and  extends  over 
halfway  up  to  the  ceiling.  Small  black  walnut  shingles  of  odd  shapes 
cover  it  from  top  to  bottom,  save  atone  place,  where  a  portico,  also  of  wal- 
nut, is  placed.  This  bears  a  bronze  bust  of  Diana,  who  seems  to  look  down 
from  the  height  as  if  charmed  with  the  beautiful  surroundings.  The 
furniture  in  the  room  is  all  art  furniture  of  the  most  recent  designs,  and 
its  varied  hues  and  tints  are  all  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  windows, 
rugs,  walls  and  everything.  Pushing  aside  the  maroon  portihcs  a 
cozy  little  retreat,  probably  eight  feet  in  diameter,  is  found.  The  win- 
dows are  in  art  glass,  representing  the  four  seasons.  A  jeweled  and 
artistically  ornamented  window  occupies  the  center,  and  over  each  win- 
dow is  a  transom,  also  of  jeweled  art  glass.  In  the  center  of  the  mosaic 
floor  is  an  ebony  stand,  bearing  a  life-size  figure  of  an  Egyptian  head 
in  gold  bronze. 

ST.    CECELIA. 

One  of  the  finest  art  glass  windows  in  the  villa  is  that  of  St.  Cece- 
lia, situated  so  as  to  catch  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun.  The  quiet 
dignity  and  sublime  resignation  which  are  portrayed  in  the  face  and  form 
of  this  martyr  saint,  strike  one  at  once  as  being  an  admirable  render- 
ing of  the  subject  as  originally  portrayed  in  the  cinque-cento  period  by 
Carlo  Dolce.  Indeed,  one  could  almost  imagine  that  this  beautiful 
window  possesses  the  power  of  the  "  Vocal  Memnon  "  at  Thebes,  which 
is  reputed  to  have  awed  the  entranced  spectator  by  its  production  of 
sweet  music. 

MAGNIFICENT  PRESENTS. 

The  interior  decorations  are  greatly  enhanced  by  the  large  num- 
ber of  valuable  presents  which  Mr.  Shcpard  has  received  from  his  fiionds 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  On  the  second  floor  is  a  superb  room  2^x22, 
containing  ten  windows  of  irregular  form  overlooking  the  mountains  to 
the  east,  and  Mexico  to  the  south,  whilo  to  the  west  are  spread  out  the 
ocean,  with  the  Coronado  Islands  and  Point  Loma  in  the  distance. 
This  is  Mr.  Shepard's  sanctum,  where  he  converses  with  intimate 
friends,  reads,  writes  and  lives.  Perhaps  there  is  not  in  the  world 
another  room  like  this.  A  Spanish  cedar  stainvay  leads  from  it  to  the 
observatory  directly  above,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  strikingly  origiuiil 
features  of  this  unique  house. 


2i8  CITY  AND  COUNTY  OF  SAN  DIEGO. 

Every  square  foot  of  the  walls  is  covered  with  pictures,  both  large 
and  small,  of  some  celebrity,  living  or  dead,  Mr.  Shepard's  friends,  ac- 
quaintances and  favorites.  And  here  the  visitor  to  ' '  Villa  Montezuma' ' 
is  initiated  into  the  intimate  environments,  tastes  and  inclinations  of  the 
celebrated  writer  and  musician  who  inhabit  it. 

In  this  room  are  displayed,  in  a  prominent  and  positive  manner, 
Mr.  Shehard's  personal  characteristics  as  an  individuality  in  art  and 
literature.  Over  a  beautiful  organ  is  a  large  steel  engraving  of  Meyer- 
beer, with  his  five  chief  operas  represented  by  figures  in  the  background; 
the  picture,  a  master-work  of  itself,  is  set  off  to  advantage  in  a  deep 
bronze  frame.  Below  this,  to  one  side  of  the  organ,  is  a  beautiful  por- 
trait of  Mrs.  Siddons,  the  greatest  of  England's  tragic  queens,  and 
Felicia  Hemans;  the  Princess  D'Ursini,  on  the  other  side,  with  Rich- 
ard Wagner,  George  Eliot,  and  Rossini.  A  bust  of  Beethoven,  in 
bronze,  occupies  a  niche  near  Wagner.  In  other  portions  of  the  room 
are  portraits,  pictures  and  busts  of  men  and  women  of  genius,  number- 
ing nearly  one  hundred,  and  the  room  is  a  veritable  gallery  of  celebrities. 
Portraits,  photographs  and  prints  from  Russia,  Germany,  France,  Italy, 
England  and  Australia  are  remindful  souvenirs  of  Mr.  Shepard's  friends 
in  those  countries,  with  inscriptions  of  esteem  and  affection  from  com- 
posers, singers,  poets,  painters  and  writers.  Beauty  and  utility  com- 
bine to  render  this  residence  a  model  of  the  ideal  and  the  real,  and  the 
cultured  visitor  from  foreign  ports  finds  a  solution  for  this  extraordinary 
display  of  taste  in  the  fact  that  Jesse  Shepard  himself  evolved  the  leading 
ideas  herein  set  forth.  There  is  not  a  single  detail,  from  the  first  draw- 
ing of  the  plans  to  the  hanging  of  the  last  picture  on  the  walls,  that  has 
not  been  closely  scrutinized  and  criticized  from  an  artistic  standpoint, 
and  wherever  there  seemed  to  be  the  slightest  error  against  good  taste, 
or  in  harmony  of  color  and  good  effect,  changes  were  made,  in  many 
instances  a  dozen  times  over,  until  the  arrangement  seemed,  in  Mr. 
Shepard's  eyes,  to  be  at  last  perfect.  Throughout  the  entire  house  this 
kind  of  work  has  been  done,  to  the  great :  train  of  nerve  and  physical 
endurance,  until  it  seemed  at  times  that  part  of  this  great  work  must  be 
given  up.  ; 

Villa  Montezuma  is  exclusively  a  private  residence  consecrated  to 
music,  art  and  literature.  Mr,  Shepard  gives  no  concerts  or  other  en- 
tertainments in  his  home,  but  he  gives  receptions  and  musicales  from 
time  to  time  to  his  friends  and  those  especially  invited,  for  which  no 
charges  are  made. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


JUN    9  1977 


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